The supply of a good will be more elastic, the

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question presents a statement about supply elasticity and asks us to evaluate the given options.
Option a: 'a. more the good is considered a luxury.' If a good is a luxury, its supply’s elasticity is not determined primarily by its status as a luxury, but by factors like time, substitutes, and market definition. This choice confuses the drivers of elasticity with the qualitative nature of the good itself, so it’s not the best predictor of the time sensitivity of supply.
Option b: 'b. broader is the definition of the market for the good.' When the market is defined more broadly, producers may face a wider set of inputs and potential substitution, which can alter elasticities. However, the core determinant of supply elasticity over time is typically the ability to adjust quantity in response to price changes within a given time frame, not simply how broad the market definition is. Therefore this is not the primary reason the supply becomes more elastic with more time.
Option c: 'c. longer the time period being considered.' This aligns with the standard economic principle: supply is more elastic over longer time horizons because producers have more opportunities to adjust production plans, acquire resources, build new capacity, or switch inputs. The longer the period, the more responsive quantity supplied can be to price changes, reflecting greater flexibility.
Option d: 'd. larger the number of close substitutes for the good.' The existence of close substitutes is more directly related to the price elasticity of demand rather than supply. While substitutes influence how consumers respond to price changes, they do not inherently increase the producer’s ability to adjust quantity supplied in the short run. Hence this factor is more pertinent to demand side considerations than to supply elasticity as time increases.
In summary, the key factor that makes supply more elastic over time is the producer’s increased ability to adjust production decisions, import or allocate resources, or scale operations, which is most directly captured by option c. The other options describe elements that either influence demand, market categorization, or misattribute the role of substitutes to supply elasticity, rather than the temporal dimension of the supply decision.

The supply of a good will be more elastic, the

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