Price Floors and Price Ceilings are Price Controls, examples of government intervention in the free market which changes the market equilibrium. They each have reasons for using them, but there are large efficiency losses with both of them.
Price Floors
Price Floors are minimum prices set by the government for certain commodities and services that it believes are being sold in an unfair market with too low of a price and thus their producers deserve
some assistance. Price floors are only an issue when they are set above the equilibrium price, since they have no effect if they are set below market clearing price.
When they are set above the market price, then there is a possibility that there will be an excess supply or a surplus. If this happens, producers who can't foresee trouble ahead will produce the larger quantity where the new price intersects their supply curve. Unbeknownst to them, consumers will not buy that many goods at the higher price and so those goods will go unsold.
There will be economic harm done even if suppliers can look ahead and see that there isn't sufficient demand and cut back on production in response. There is still deadweight loss associated with this reduction in quantity, reflected in the loss of consumer and producer surplus at lower levels of production. Producers can gain as a result of this policy, but only if their supply curve is relatively elastic and therefore they have no
net loss. Consumers will definitely lose with this kind of regulation, as some people are priced out of the market and others have to pay a higher price than before.
There are numerous strategies of the government for setting a price floor and dealing with its repercussions. They can set a simple price floor, use a price support, or set production quotas. Price supports sets a minimum price just like as before, but here the government buys up any excess supply. This is even more inefficient and costly for the government and society as a whole than the government directly subsidizing the affected firms. Production quotas artificially raise the price by restricting production using either mandated quotas or giving businesses incentives to reduce their production. In America, this latter technique is used widely with agriculture. The government pays farmers to keep some portion of their fields fallow, thus elevating prices. Like price supports, the policy would be more efficient and less costly to society if the government directly subsidized farmers instead of setting a production restriction.
Price Ceilings
Price Ceilings are maximum prices set by the government for particular goods and services that they believe are being sold at too high of a price and thus consumers need some help purchasing them. Price ceilings only become a problem when they are set below the market equilibrium price.
When the ceiling is set below the market price, there will be excess demand or a supply shortage. Producers won't produce as much at the lower price, while consumers will demand more because the goods are cheaper. Demand will outstrip supply, so there will be a lot of people who want to buy at this lower price but can't. Still, if the demand curve is relatively elastic, then the net effect to consumer surplus will be positive. Producers are truly harmed, as their surplus is doubly hit with a reduction in the number of firms willing to take that lower price, and those who remain in the market have to take a lower price.
The resulting shortage of goods can lead to consumers having to queue up in line to get the good, government rationing, and even the development of a black market dealing with the scarce goods. This is what occurred with the energy crisis in America during the 1970s, when cars had to line up on the street in order to just get some government rationed amount of gasoline.
Back to Equilibrium
Introduction
Price is dependent on the interaction between demand and supply components of a market. Demand and supply represent the willingness of consumers and producers to engage in buying and selling. An exchange of a product takes place when buyers and sellers can agree upon a price.
This section of the Agriculture Marketing Manual explains price in a competitive market. When imperfect competition exists, such as with a monopoly or single selling firm, price outcomes may not follow the same general rules.
Equilibrium price
When a product exchange occurs, the agreed upon price is called an equilibrium price, or a market clearing price. Graphically, this price occurs at the intersection of demand and supply as presented in Image 1.
In Image 1, both buyers and sellers are willing to exchange the quantity Q at the price P. At this point, supply and demand are in balance. Price determination depends equally on demand and supply.
Image 1. Figure 1, Graph showing price equilibrium curves
It is truly a balance of the market components. To understand why the balance must occur, examine what happens when there is no balance, such as when market price is below that shown as P in Image 1.
At any price below P, the quantity demanded is greater than the quantity supplied. In such a situation, consumers would clamour for a product that producers would not be willing to supply; a shortage would exist. In this event, consumers would choose to pay a higher price in order to get the product they want, while producers would be encouraged by a higher price to bring more of the product onto the market.
The end result is a rise in price, to P, where supply and demand are in balance. Similarly, if a price above P were chosen arbitrarily, the market would be in surplus with too much supply relative to demand. If that were to happen, producers would be willing to take a lower price in order to sell, and consumers would be induced by lower prices to increase their purchases. Only when the price falls would balance be restored.
A market price is not necessarily a fair price, it is merely an outcome. It does not guarantee total satisfaction on the part of buyer and seller. Typically, some assumptions about the behaviour of buyers and sellers are made, which add a sense of reason to a market price. For example, buyers are expected to be self-interested and, although they may not have perfect knowledge, at least they will try to look out for their own interests. Meanwhile, sellers are considered to be profit maximizers. This assumption limits their willingness to sell to within a price range, high to low, where they can stay in business.
Change in equilibrium price
When either demand or supply shifts, the equilibrium price will change. The section on understanding supply factors explains why a market component may move. The examples below show what happens to price when supply or demand shifts occur.
Example 1: Unusually good weather increases output
When a bumper crop develops, supply shifts outward and downward, shown as S2 in Image 2, more product is available over the full range of prices. With no immediate change in consumers' willingness to buy crops, there is a movement along the demand curve to a new equilibrium. Consumers will buy more but only at a lower price. How much the price must fall to induce consumers to purchase the greater supply depends upon the elasticity of demand.
Image 2. Figure 2, Graph showing movement along demand curve
In Image 2, price falls from P1 to P2 if a bumper crop is produced. If the demand curve in this example was more vertical (more inelastic), the price-quantity adjustments needed to bring about a new equilibrium between demand and the new supply would be different.
To understand how elasticity of demand affects the size of adjustment in prices and quantities when supply shifts, try drawing the demand curve (or line) with a slope more vertical than that depicted in Image 2. Then compare the size of price-quantity changes in this with the first situation. With the same shift in supply, equilibrium change in price is larger when demand is inelastic than when demand is more elastic.
The opposite is true for quantity. A larger change in quantity will occur when demand is elastic compared with the quantity change required when demand is inelastic.
Example 2: Consumers lower their preference for beef
A decline in the preference for beef is one of the factors that could shift the demand curve inward or to the left, as seen in Image 3.
Image 3. Figure 3. Graph showing movement along supply curve
With no immediate change in supply, the effect on price comes from a movement along the supply curve. An inward shift of demand causes price to fall and also the quantity exchanged to fall. The amount of change in price and quantity, from one equilibrium to another, is dependent upon the elasticity of supply.
Imagine that supply is almost fixed over the time period being considered. That is, draw a more vertical supply curve for this shift in demand. When demand shifts from D1 to D2 on a more vertical supply curve (inelastic supply) almost all the adjustment to a new equilibrium takes place in the change in price.
Price stability
Two forces contribute to the size of a price change: the amount of the shift and the elasticity of demand or supply. For example, a large shift of the supply curve can have a relatively small effect on price if the corresponding demand curve is elastic. That would show up in Example 1 above, if the demand curve is drawn flatter (more elastic).
In fact, the elasticity of demand and supply for many agricultural products are relatively small when compared with those of many industrial products. This inelasticity of demand has led to problems of price instability in agriculture when either supply or demand shifts in the short-term.
Price level
The two examples above focus on factors that shift supply or demand in the short-term. However, longer-term forces are also at work, which shift demand and supply over time. One particular supply shifter is technology. A major effect of technology in agriculture has been to shift the supply curve rapidly outward by reducing the costs of production per unit of output.
Technology has had a depressing effect on agricultural prices in the long-term since producers are able to produce more at a lower cost. At the same time, both population and income have been advancing, which both tend to shift demand to the right. The net effect is complex, but overall the rapidly shifting supply curve coupled with a slow moving demand has contributed to low prices in agriculture compared to prices for industrial products.
At various levels of a market, from farm gate to retail, unique supply and demand relationships are likely to exist. However, prices at different market levels will bear some relationship to each other. For example, if hog prices decline, it can be expected that retail pork prices will decline as well. This price adjustment is more likely to happen in the long-term once all participants have had time to adjust their behaviour.
In the short-term, price adjustments may not occur for a variety of reasons. For example, wholesalers may have long-term contracts that specify the old hog price, or retailers may have advertised or planned a feature to attract customers.
Summary
Market prices are dependent upon the interaction of demand and supply.
An equilibrium price is a balance of demand and supply factors.
There is a tendency for prices to return to this equilibrium unless some characteristics of demand or supply change.
Changes in the equilibrium price occur when either demand or supply, or both, shift or move.