supply curve

Definitions

noun a graph which shows the relationship between the price of a product or of a factor of production and amount of a product supplied during a period

(written as Supply Curve)
A bivariate (two-variable) geometrical representation of a supply function where the dependent variable is quantity supplied per period and the independent variable is price. In general, a supply curve shows both the maximum rate of supply per unit of time at a variety of prices, and also the minimum price that must be paid to induce the supplier to provide that amount, ceteris paribus. (A so-called 'backward bending' supply curve shows only the maximum that will be supplied at a variety of prices.) Conventionally, the price variable is measured on the y axis and the quantity on the x axis, even when quantity is the dependent variable. Under price-taking conditions, the marginal cost curve is the supply curve.

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