Supply is price inelastic if the price elasticity of supply is less than 1; it is unit price elastic if the price elasticity of supply is equal to 1; and it is price elastic if the price elasticity of supply is greater than A vertical supply curve is said to be perfectly inelastic A horizontal supply curve is said to be perfectly elastic The price elasticity of supply is greater when the length of time under consideration is longer because over time producers have more options for adjusting to the change in price When applied to labor supply, the price elasticity of supply is usually positive but can be negative If higher wages induce people to work more, the labor supply curve is upward sloping and the price elasticity of supply is positive In some very high-paying professions, the labor supply curve may have a negative slope, which leads to a negative price elasticity of supply TRY IT! In the late 1990s, it was reported on the news that the high-tech industry was worried about being able to find enough workers with computer-related expertise Job offers for recent college graduates with degrees in computer science went with high salaries It was also reported that more undergraduates than ever were majoring in computer science Compare the price elasticity of supply of computer scientists at that point in time to the price elasticity of supply of computer scientists over a longer period of, say, 1999 to 2009 Case in Point: A Variety of Labor Supply Elasticities Attributed to Libby Rittenberg and Timothy Tregarthen Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books/ Saylor.org 276