Labu villagers brought fresh fish to Lae market. What is the elasticity of supply? Is it comparatively elastic or inelastic?

3 answers

To determine the elasticity of supply, we need to know the percentage change in quantity supplied divided by the percentage change in price. Unfortunately, without specific numerical data, it is not possible to calculate the exact elasticity of supply.

However, we can make a general inference. If the Labu villagers are bringing fresh fish to Lae market, we can assume that they are part of a local fishing industry. In such cases, the supply of fish is often relatively responsive to changes in price, as fishermen can easily adjust their fishing efforts in the short term.

Thus, the elasticity of supply for fresh fish in this context is expected to be comparatively elastic. This means that a small change in price will result in a proportionally larger change in the quantity supplied.
They are not part of a local fishing industry, they're just villagers. So what's the elasticity of supply
Apologies for the incorrect assumption. In that case, if the Labu villagers are not part of a local fishing industry and are just individual villagers bringing their own catch to the Lae market, it is likely that the elasticity of supply for fresh fish is relatively inelastic.

The elasticity of supply measures the responsiveness of quantity supplied to changes in price. If the Labu villagers are solely dependent on their individual fishing efforts and do not have the ability to easily increase or decrease their fishing activities in the short term, the supply of fish may be relatively fixed.

In this scenario, even if the price of fish were to increase, the individual villagers may not be able to significantly increase their fishing efforts immediately, resulting in a limited increase in the quantity supplied. Hence, the elasticity of supply would be relatively inelastic.