Equilibrium price

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Economic equilibrium. (Discuss)

To comply with Wikipedia's quality standards, this article may need to be rewritten.
Please help improve this article. The discussion page may contain suggestions.

Equilibrium price is the price at which the quantity demanded of a good or service is equal to the quantity supplied.

1 Solving for Equilibrium Price
2 Influences changing price
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Solving for Equilibrium Price

To solve for the equilibrium price, one must either plot the supply and demand curves, or solve for their equations being equal.

An example may be:

$\begin{alignat}{2} Q_s & = 124 + 1.5 \cdot P \\ Q_d & = 189 - 2.25 \cdot P \\ \\ Q_s & = Q_d \\ \\ 124 + 1.5 \cdot P & = 189 - 2.25 \cdot P \\ (1.5 + 2.25) \cdot P & = (189 - 124) \\ P & = \frac{189 - 124}{1.5 + 2.25} \\ P & = \frac{65}{3.75} \\ P & = 17.33 \\ \end{alignat}$

In the diagram, depicting simple set of supply and demand curves, the quantity demanded and supplied at price P are equal.

At any price above P supply exceeds demand, while at a price below P the quantity demanded exceeds that supplied. In other words, prices where demand and supply are out of balance are termed points of disequilibrium, creating shortages and oversupply. Changes in the conditions of demand or supply will shift the demand or supply curves. This will cause changes in the equilibrium price and quantity in the market.

Consider the following demand and supply schedule:

Price ($)	Demand	Supply
8.00	6,000	18,000
7.00	8,000	16,000
6.00	10,000	14,000
5.00	12,000	12,000
4.00	14,000	10,000
3.00	16,000	8,000
2.00	18,000	6,000
1.00	20,000	4,000

The equilibrium price in the market is $5.00 where demand and supply are equal at 12,000 units

If the current market price was $3.00 – there would be excess demand for 8,000 units, creating a shortage.

If the current market price was $8.00 – there would be excess supply of 12,000 units.

When there is a shortage in the market we see that, in order to correct this disequilibrium, the price of the good will be increased back to a price of $5.00, thus lessening the quantity demanded and increasing the quantity supplied thus that the market is in balance.

When there is an oversupply of a good, such as when price is above $6.00, then we see that producers will decrease the price in order to increase the quantity demanded for the good, thus eliminating the excess and taking the market back to equilibrium.

[edit] Influences changing price

A change in equilibrium price may occur through a change in either the supply or demand schedules. For instance, an increase in demand through an increase level of disposable income may produce a new demand and supply schedule, such as the following:

Price ($)	Demand	Supply
8.00	10,000	18,000
7.00	12,000	16,000
6.00	14,000	14,000
5.00	16,000	12,000
4.00	18,000	10,000
3.00	20,000	8,000
2.00	22,000	6,000
1.00	24,000	4,000

Here we see that an increase in disposable income would increase the quantity demanded of the good by 4,000 units at each price. This has the effect of changing the price at which quantity supplied equals quantity demanded. In this case we see that the two equal each other at an increased price of $6.00. This increase in demand would have the effect of shifting the demand curve rightward. Note that a decrease in disposable income would have the exact opposite effect on the equilibrium market.

We will also see similar behaviour in price when there is a change in the supply schedule, occurring through changes in technological or through changes in business costs. An increase in technology or decrease in costs would have the effect of increasing the quantity supplied at each price, thus reducing the equilibrium price. On the other hand, a decrease in technology or increase in business costs will decrease the quantity supplied at each price, thus increasing equilibrium price.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2006)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.