Supply is the quantity of a commodity that a producer is willing and able to offer for sale at a given price during a given period of time. The quantity of a commodity being supplied by a firm can be represented in many ways, one of these is a supply schedule.
Supply Schedule
Supply schedule is a tabular statement showing number of units of a commodity being supplied at various levels of price, during a given period of time. There are two types of supply schedules –
- Individual
- Market
Individual Supply Schedule
Individual supply schedules refer to a tabular statement showing various quantities of a commodity that a producer is willing to sell at various levels of price, during a given period of time.
| Price (in Rs.) | Quantity supplied of Good X |
| 1 | 5 |
| 2 | 10 |
| 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 20 |
| 5 | 25 |
As seen in the schedule given above, quantity supplied of commodity X increases with increase in price. The firm is willing to offer for sale 5 units of X at a price of Rs. 1. When the price rises to Rs. 2, supply also rises to 10 units.
Market Supply Schedule
Market supply schedule refers to a tabular statement showing various amounts of a commodity that all the producers are willing to offer for sale at various levels of price, during a given period of time. It is obtained by adding all the individual supplies at each and every level of price.
Market supply can be expressed as –
Sm=SA+SB…
Where Sm is the market supply and SA+SB… are the individual supply of supplier A, supplier B and so on.
| Price (in Rs.) | Individual Supply (units) | Market Supply (units)
(SA+SB) |
|
| SA | SB | ||
| 1 | 5 | 10 | 5+10 = 15 |
| 2 | 10 | 20 | 10+20 = 30 |
| 3 | 15 | 25 | 15+25 = 40 |
| 4 | 20 | 35 | 20+35 = 55 |
| 5 | 25 | 40 | 25+40 = 65 |
As we can see in the table given above, market supply is obtained by adding the supplies of suppliers A and B at different prices. At price of Rs. 1, market supply is 15 units. When price rises to Rs. 2, market supply rises to 30 units, So, it also shows a direct relationship between price and quantity supplied.
