Probably the single most important elasticity in microeconomics is the own price elasticity of demand. This is a measure of the rate of change in desired quantity demanded due to a change in market price.

   For some goods, a 5% change in price can make a big difference in the quantity demanded, for others goods the same 5% change may not affect the quantity demanded much at all. By computing the own price elasticity of demand, or we can determine the size of that response.

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