Introductory to Microeconomics
Solution of case study 2.3
Something fishy? No, it’s just a matter of supply and demand
Suggested answers
1 Research undertaken by Glenn Jones (yet to be published) has also found that the price of abalone
was steady from 1940 to 1960, and then increased from about $10 per pound to $70 per pound by
2000, and that the price of raw oysters was steady from 1860 to 1960, then increased from about 50
cents per oyster to $2.50 per oyster by 1980, and since 1980 has been steady. What movements in
supply and demand would be consistent with the changes in the prices of abalone and raw oysters?
What might be the factors that have caused these patterns of changes in demand and supply?
