Supply gap

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In the economy , a supply gap ( English output gap ) is when the supply on a market is less than the demand . The opposite is the demand gap .

General

Functioning markets tend to balance supply and demand at the market price or equilibrium price ; there is market equilibrium . Supply gaps, on the other hand, are an indication of market imbalances. Then the market price is below the equilibrium price, so that a supply gap arises. The supply gap always originates from the providers who do not, or only hesitantly, adapt their capacities to the long-term demand trend or who have to accept production losses. The monetary counterpart is the money gap . A typical supply gap is the gaps in the shelves in retail .

Causes and consequences

A typical supply gap occurs in agriculture , for example , when agricultural products cannot be supplied in the usual quantities and / or product quality due to drought or other natural disasters due to poor harvests . The demand, which has remained constant, did not contribute to the supply gap. The supply gap also leads to excess demand, so demand has to be repaired and agricultural prices rise. The price mechanism ultimately leads to a reduction in demand because some buyers are not prepared to purchase more expensive products ( price-performance ratio ). Supply gap inflation occurs because of the price increases.

Demarcation

The supply gap and excess demand are theoretically the same, but the difference between the two lies in the cause of the difference and in the effects on price and quantity changes. The cause of the supply gap always lies with the supplier, not with the customer. While the supply gap leads to a decrease in volume and higher prices, the excess demand results in higher prices and higher volumes. The output gap of the macroeconomy only considers the deviation of the realized gross domestic product (GDP) from the production potential (PP) as an economic indicator .

In business terms, there is a supply gap if the range of products or services is not complete because certain product types are still missing from the production program . For example, vitamin water closes the supply gap between near-water drinks and classic soft drinks .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gerhard Diepen, Wirtschaftslehre für den Bankkaufmann , 1985, p. 86
  2. Herbert Edling, Volkswirtschaftslehre , 2010, p. 321
  3. Lothar Wildmann, Introduction to Economics, Microeconomics and Competition Policy , Volume I, 2007, p. 55
  4. Lothar Wildmann, Introduction to Economics, Microeconomics and Competition Policy , Volume 1, 2007, pp. 55 f.