Law Of Demand

By
rjonesx
-

Definition

In microeconomics, the law of demand states that, “conditional on all else being equal, as the price of a good increases, quantity demanded decreases ; conversely, as the price of a good decreases, quantity demanded increases “. In other words, the law of demand describes an inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded of a good. Alternatively, other things being constant, quantity demanded of a commodity is inversely related to the price of the commodity. For example, a consumer may demand 2 kilograms of apples at Rs 70 per kg; he may, however, demand 1kg if the price rises to Rs 80 per kg. This has been the general human behaviour on relationship between the price of the commodity and the quantity demanded. The factors held constant refer to other determinants of demand, such as the prices of other goods and the consumer’s income. There are, however, some possible exceptions to the law of demand, such as Giffen goods and Veblen goods.

Law Of Demand

What is the ‘Law Of Demand’

The law of demand is a microeconomic law that states, all other factors being equal, as the price of a good or service increases, consumer demand for the good or service will decrease, and vice versa. The law of demand says that the higher the price, the lower the quantity demanded, because consumers’ opportunity cost to acquire that good or service increases, and they must make more tradeoffs to acquire the more expensive product.

Explaining ‘Law Of Demand’

The chart below depicts the law of demand using a demand curve, which is always downward sloping. Each point on the curve (A, B, C) reflects a direct correlation between quantity demanded (Q) and price (P). So, at point A, the quantity demanded will be Q1 and the price will be P1, and so on.

Further Reading

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR