Question

You and your college roommate eat three packages of Ramen noodles each week. After graduation last month, both of you were hired at several times your college income. You still enjoy Ramen noodles very much and buy even more, but your roommate plans to buy fewer Ramen noodles in favor of foods she prefers more. When looking at income elasticity of demand for Ramen noodles, yours woulda. be negative, and your roommate's would be positive b. be positive, and your roommate's would be negative c. be zero, and your roommate's would approach infinity d. approach infinity, and your roommate's would be zero.

Answer 1

Answer:

yours would be positive and your roommate's would be negative.

Explanation:

Income elasticity of demand is defined as the change in quantity demanded as a result of changes in income earned by an individual. It is calculated by finding a ratio of percentage change in quantity demanded to percentage change in price.

Since there is an increase in the noodles I take with increase in income the numerator of this ratio will be positive, and the denominator will be positive indicating income increase. So the ratio will be positive.

On the other hand my roommate buys less of Ramen noodles so the numerator will be negative. The denominator will be positive to indicate increased income. The result of the income elasticity in this case will be negative.