Income elasticity of demand measures the responsiveness of quantity demanded to a change in income.
Income
Elasticity
Income elasticity of demand
measures the responsiveness of quantity demanded to a change in income. It is
measured by dividing the percentage change in quantity demanded by the
percentage change in income. If the demand for a commodity increases by 20%
when income increases by 10% then the income elasticity of that commodity is
said to be positive and relatively high. If the demand for food were unchanged
when income increases, the income elasticity would be zero. A fall in demand
for a commodity when income rises results in a negative income elasticity of
demand.
The following are the various
types of income elasticity:
Zero
Income Elasticity: The increase in income of the
individual does not make any difference
in the demand for that commodity. ( Ei = 0)
Negative
Income Elasticity: The increase in the income of
consumers leads to less purchase of
those goods. ( Ei < 0).
Unitary
Income Elasticity: The change in income leads to the
same percentage of change in the
demand for the good. ( Ei = 1).
Income
Elasticity is Greater than 1: The
change in income increases the demand
for that commodity more than the change in the income. ( Ei > 1).
Income Elasticity is Less
than 1: The change in income increases the demand for the commodity but at a lesser percentage than the
change in the Income. ( Ei < 1).
The positive income elasticity of demand can be
classified as unity, more than unity and less than unity. We can understand
from the above graphs that the product which is highly elastic in nature will
grow faster when the economy is expanding. The performance of firms having low
income elasticity on the other hand will be less affected by the economic
changes of the country.
With a rise in consumer’s income, the demand increases
for superior goods and decreases for inferior goods and vice versa. The income
elasticity of demand is positive for superior goods or normal goods and
negative for inferior goods since a person may shift from inferior to superior
goods with a rise in income. Tags : Managerial Economics - Demand Analysis
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