Unit 2.2·Microeconomics

Individual vs Market Supply

Supply

AO2

Syllabus requirement

Explains how market supply is the horizontal summation of individual producers' supply curves.

Assessment objectives
AO2 Application and Analysis

Summary

This topic explains how individual firms respond to higher market prices by increasing the quantity they supply, and how rising prices attract new firms into the market. The result is a larger market supply as existing producers expand production and entrants add capacity, assuming other factors remain constant (ceteris paribus). Understanding this behaviour is essential for analysing supply-side responses to price changes in competitive markets.

Real-world examples for this unit