SUPPLY CURVE
SUPPLY CURVE DEFINITION of 'Supply Curve' The supply curve is a graphical representation of the relationship between the price of a good or service and the quantity supplied for a given period of time. In a typical representation, the price will appear on the left vertical axis, the quantity supplied on the horizontal axis. BREAKING DOWN 'Supply Curve' The supply curve will move upward from the left to the right, which expresses the law of supply : as the price of a given commodity increases, the quantity supplied increases, all else being equal. Note that this formulation implies that price is the independent variable, and quantity the dependent variable. In most disciplines, the independent variable appears on the horizontal or x -axis, but economics is an exception to this rule. For example, if the price of soybeans rises, farmers will have an incentive to plant less corn and more soybeans, and the total quantity of soybeans on the market will in