Question

16. According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy, sales of the fuel-efficient Toyota Prius hybrid fell from 194,108 vehicles sold in 2014 to 180,603 in 2015. Over the same period, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average price of regular gasoline fell from $3.36 to $2.43 per gallon. Using the midpoint method, calculate the cross-price elasticity of demand between Toyota Prii (the official plural of "Prius" is "Prii") and regular gasoline. According to your estimate of the cross-price elasticity, are the two goods complements or substitutes? Does your answer make sense?

Answer 1

Answer:

0.22 and substitutes goods

Explanation:

The computation of the cross-price elasticity of demand using mid point formula is shown below:

= (change in quantity demanded ÷ average of quantity demanded) ÷ (percentage change in price ÷ average of price)  

where,  

Change in quantity demanded is

= Q2 - Q1

= 180,603 - 194,108

= -13,505

And, the average of quantity demanded is

= (180,603 + 194,108) ÷ 2

= 187,356

Change in price is

= P2 - P1

= $2.43 - $3.36

= -$0.93

And, the average of price is

= ($2.43 + $3.36) ÷ 2

= 2.895

So, after solving this, the cross - price elasticity is 0.22

Since the cross - price elasticity is positive that reflect the goods are substitutes to each other