Answer:
C. rise.
Step-by-step explanation:
Note: This question is not complete as some data are missing. The complete question is therefore provided before answering the question as follows:
The price elasticity of demand for gizmos is known to be 0.2 (disregarding the negative sign). If sellers of gizmos increase their prices, total revenue from gizmo sales will:
A. fall.
B. stay the same.
C. rise.
D. There is not enough information to determine the change in revenue.
The explanation to the answer is now given as follows:
The price elasticity of demand can be described as the degree of responsivess of quantity demanded of a commodity to a change in the price of that commodity.
The price elasticity of demand is calculated as the percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in price.
The three major categories of price elasticity of demand and their effect on revenue are as follows:
a. Elastic: Price elasticity of demand is said to be elastic when its absolute value is greater than one (i.e. Ep > 1). This implies that the percentage change in quantity demanded is greater than the percentage in price. That is, the quantity demanded is more responsive to any change in price. As there is negative relationship between price and quantity demanded for a normal good, an increase in price will make the percentage fall in the quantity demanded to be higher than the percentage increase in price. This will therefore result in a fall in total revenue.
b. Unitary: Price elasticity of demand is said to be unitary when its absolute value is equal to one (i.e. Ep = 1). This implies that the percentage change in quantity demanded is equal the percentage in price. That is, the quantity demanded is equally responsive to any change in price. As there is negative relationship between price and quantity demanded for a normal good, an increase in price will make the percentage fall in the quantity demanded to be equal to the percentage increase in price. This will make the total revenue to remain the same.
c. Inelastic: Price elasticity of demand is said to be inelastic when its absolute value is less than one (i.e. Ep < 1). This implies that the percentage change in quantity demanded is less than the percentage in price. That is, the quantity demanded is less responsive to any change in price. As there is negative relationship between price and quantity demanded for a normal good, an increase in price will make the percentage fall in the quantity demanded to be less than the percentage increase in price. This will therefore result in a rise in total revenue.
Based on the explanation above, the price elasticity of demand for gizmos falls into category c. This implies that it is inelastic because its absolute value of 0.2 is less than 1. Therefore, the correct option is C. rise. That is, total revenue from gizmo sales will rise If sellers of gizmos increase their prices.