The Gurugram story that we learnt about in the previous post was a fairly simple one. We spoke about how people on both sides of the divide (demand and supply) think about prices and therefore their decisions about how much to supply and how much to demand. Alas, if it were only that simple.
As it turns out, there are many, many other factors at play when it comes to thinking about demand and supply. In this post, we are going to list out these factors, and in the posts to follow, we’re going to speak about each one of them in turn.
First, the existence of things that may be substitutes, and things that may be complements to the thing being analyzed. For example, flats/apartments may be one thing, but what about bungalows? A bungalow is a substitute for an apartment. Will a change in the price of bungalows affect the demand for apartments? If so, how? Buying an apartment also means, presumably, hiring an interior decorator. Will the rates being charged by an interior decorator impact the decision to buy a flat? This is the analysis of complementary goods and substitute goods – one part of the puzzle.
Second, a change in taste and preferences. For example, with a rise in incomes, people may not want to stay in apartments, but in bungalows. Conversely, if there is a fall in income, people may not want to stay in apartments, but in slums. These things also impact our analysis.
Third, how sensitive is demand to a change in price. Very large changes in prices may not impact the demand for cigarettes all that much (and any finance minister worth his salt will tell you this), while very small changes in price will change the demand for jewellery significantly.
Each of these are factors that impact significantly both the demand and supply of a good, as as we mentioned, in the three posts that follow, we will take a look at each one of them, beginning with the third factor listed above: elasticity.
EconForEverybody 
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