Question

At a price of $1.00, a local coffee shop is willing to supply 100 cinnamon rolls per day. At a price of $1.20, the coffee shop would be willing to supply 150 cinnamon rolls per day. Using the midpoint method, the price elasticity of supply is about:________

Answer 1

Answer:

2.2

Explanation:

The formula for calculating price elasticity using the midpoint method is:

midpoint method = {(Q2 - Q1) / [(Q2 + Q1) / 2]} / {(P2 - P1) / [(P2 + P1) / 2]}

midpoint method = {(150 - 100) / [(150 + 100) / 2]} / {(1.20 - 1) / [(1.20 + 1) / 2]}

midpoint method = [50 / (250 / 2)] / [0.20 / (2.20 / 2)] = (50 / 125) / (0.20 / 1.1)  

midpoint method = 0.4 / 0.19 = 2.2

The advantage of using the midpoint method to calculate price elasticity is that we can calculate the price elasticity between two points, and it doesn't matter if the price increases or decreases.

If we calculate price elasticity using the single point formula:

price elasticity = % change in quantity supplied / % change in price = 50% / 20% = 2.5