In the example of an increase in the supply of farm products, why might large crop yields be undesirable for farmers as a group?

Correct answer: Because the demand for most farm products is inelastic, and the increased output depresses prices and total revenue.

Explanation

This is a classic application of price elasticity. Since the demand for many agricultural products is inelastic, a large increase in supply (a good harvest) causes a proportionally larger drop in price, leading to a decrease in the total revenue for farmers as a group.

Other questions

Question 1

How is the concept of 'price elasticity of demand' defined in the context of consumer responsiveness?

Question 2

If a 2 percent decline in the price of cut flowers results in a 4 percent increase in the quantity demanded, how would the demand for cut flowers be described?

Question 3

According to the total-revenue test, what happens to total revenue when the price of a product changes if the demand for that product is inelastic?

Question 4

What does a negative coefficient for cross elasticity of demand indicate about the relationship between two products, X and Y?

Question 5

How is 'consumer surplus' defined?

Question 6

A movie theater's ticket price falls from 7 dollars to 6 dollars, and the number of tickets sold per week increases from 2,000 to 3,000. Using the midpoint formula, what is the price elasticity of demand for these movie tickets?

Question 7

What is the primary determinant of the price elasticity of supply, influencing whether it is elastic or inelastic?

Question 8

In the immediate market period, what is the price elasticity of supply typically considered to be, and why?

Question 9

What does a positive coefficient of income elasticity of demand (Ei) signify about a good?

Question 10

Reductions of combined consumer and producer surplus associated with underproduction or overproduction of a product are referred to as what?

Question 11

If Bob is willing to pay a maximum of 13 dollars for a bag of oranges and the market equilibrium price is 8 dollars, what is Bob's consumer surplus?

Question 12

If Carlos's minimum acceptable price for a bag of oranges is 3 dollars, and the market equilibrium price he receives is 8 dollars, what is his producer surplus?

Question 13

Which of the following goods is likely to have the most inelastic demand?

Question 14

Under what condition is allocative efficiency achieved in a market?

Question 15

If the price of a movie ticket is 1 dollar and 8,000 tickets are sold per week, what is the total revenue for the theater?

Question 16

When a small price reduction causes buyers to increase their purchases from zero to all they can obtain, how is demand described?

Question 17

Why do economists generally ignore the minus sign and use the absolute value when presenting the price-elasticity coefficient of demand?

Question 18

In the long run, what happens to the price elasticity of supply compared to the short run?

Question 19

If an increase in the price of product Y causes the quantity demanded of product X to decrease, what can be concluded about the two products?

Question 20

A government looking to raise the most tax revenue with an excise tax would likely impose it on a good with which type of demand?

Question 21

What is the relationship between producer surplus and the market equilibrium price?

Question 22

Which of the following describes productive efficiency?

Question 23

The demand for products that represent a very small proportion of a consumer's income, like chewing gum, tends to be:

Question 24

If an increase in the price of gold does not elicit a substantial increase in quantity supplied, the supply of gold is described as:

Question 25

A price ceiling set below the equilibrium price will result in what market outcome?

Question 26

In the total-revenue test, a price increase for a product with elastic demand will lead to what change in total revenue?

Question 27

If a 2 percent drop in the price of chocolate causes a 2 percent increase in quantity demanded, the price elasticity of demand is:

Question 28

Which of the following describes the time period known as the 'short run' in the context of price elasticity of supply?

Question 29

If a consumer's income rises and they buy less of a particular good, what type of good is it?

Question 30

If the price of lettuce goes up, and as a result, the demand for salad dressing declines, what can be said about their relationship?

Question 31

If a market produces a quantity less than the equilibrium quantity, what is the result?

Question 32

Which factor would most likely increase the price elasticity of demand for a product?

Question 33

If a college raises tuition and its total revenue increases, what does this imply about the price elasticity of demand for its education?

Question 34

For a linear, downward-sloping demand curve, where is demand typically more price-elastic?

Question 35

What is the primary reason that cash gifts are generally preferred to noncash gifts of equal monetary value?

Question 36

Suppose the price elasticity of demand for a product is 3.0. If the price of the product increases by 10 percent, by what percentage will the quantity demanded change?

Question 37

Which of these industries is presented as an example of a good with a highly inelastic supply due to the difficulty and time required for production?

Question 38

If a government subsidy is granted for the production of a good, what is the expected effect on the price elasticity of supply?

Question 39

In the 'Last Word' section, why do airlines charge business travelers higher prices than leisure travelers?

Question 40

If a market is producing at the allocatively efficient quantity, what is true about the consumer and producer surplus?

Question 41

If the price of a product falls from 4 dollars to 1 dollar and total revenue falls from 40 dollars to 20 dollars, what does the total-revenue test indicate about the elasticity of demand?

Question 42

Why is the demand for a specific brand of a product, such as Crest toothpaste, likely to be more price-elastic than the demand for the general product category, such as toothpaste?

Question 43

If an increase in the price of product A leads to an increase in the demand for product B, what is the cross elasticity of demand between them?

Question 44

A price floor set above the equilibrium price will result in what market outcome?

Question 45

If a market produces a quantity where marginal cost exceeds marginal benefit, what is the consequence?

Question 46

Which condition is necessary for a seller to be able to practice price discrimination successfully?

Question 48

If a consumer is willing to pay 10 dollars for a product, and the market price is 10 dollars, what is the value of their consumer surplus?

Question 49

The price elasticity coefficient of demand for residential land is estimated to be 1.60. This means that the demand for residential land is:

Question 50

If a producer's minimum acceptable price for a product is 7 dollars, and the market price is 7 dollars, what is the value of their producer surplus?