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Local Nonsatiation
In microeconomics, the property of local nonsatiation (LNS) of consumer preferences states that for any bundle of goods there is always another bundle of goods arbitrarily close that is strictly preferred to it.''Microeconomic Theory'', by A. Mas-Colell, et al. Formally, if X is the consumption set, then for any x \in X and every \varepsilon>0, there exists a y \in X such that \, y-x \, \leq \varepsilon and y is strictly preferred to x. Several things to note are: # Local nonsatiation is implied by monotonicity of preferences. However, as the converse is not true, local nonsatiation is a weaker condition. # There is no requirement that the preferred bundle ''y'' contain more of any good – hence, some goods can be "bads" and preferences can be non-monotone. # It rules out the extreme case where all goods are " bads", since the point ''x'' = 0 would then be a bliss point. # Local nonsatiation can only occur either if the consumption set is unbounded or open (in other wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utility
In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings. * In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish to maximize, i.e., an objective function. This kind of utility bears a closer resemblance to the original utilitarian concept, developed by moral philosophers such as Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. * In a descriptive context, the term refers to an ''apparent'' objective function; such a function is revealed by a person's behavior, and specifically by their preferences over lotteries, which can be any quantified choice. The relationship between these two kinds of utility functions has been a source of controversy among both economists and ethicists, with most maintaining that the two are distinct but generally related. Utility function Consider a set of alternatives among which a person has a preference ordering. A utility fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pareto Optimal
In welfare economics, a Pareto improvement formalizes the idea of an outcome being "better in every possible way". A change is called a Pareto improvement if it leaves at least one person in society better off without leaving anyone else worse off than they were before. A situation is called Pareto efficient or Pareto optimal if all possible Pareto improvements have already been made; in other words, there are no longer any ways left to make one person better off without making some other person worse-off. In social choice theory, the same concept is sometimes called the unanimity principle, which says that if ''everyone'' in a society ( non-strictly) prefers A to B, society as a whole also non-strictly prefers A to B. The Pareto front consists of all Pareto-efficient situations. In addition to the context of efficiency in ''allocation'', the concept of Pareto efficiency also arises in the context of ''efficiency in production'' vs. ''x-inefficiency'': a set of outputs of goo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Welfare Theorem
There are two fundamental theorems of welfare economics. The first states that in economic equilibrium, a set of complete markets, with complete information, and in perfect competition, will be Pareto optimal (in the sense that no further exchange would make one person better off without making another worse off). The requirements for perfect competition are these: # There are no externalities and each actor has perfect information. # Firms and consumers take prices as given (no economic actor or group of actors has market power). The theorem is sometimes seen as an analytical confirmation of Adam Smith's "invisible hand" principle, namely that ''competitive markets ensure an efficient allocation of resources''. However, there is no guarantee that the Pareto optimal market outcome is equitative, as there are many possible Pareto efficient allocations of resources differing in their desirability (e.g. one person may own everything and everyone else nothing). The second theorem s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce a particular thing, a lack of viable substitute goods, and the possibility of a high monopoly price well above the seller's marginal cost that leads to a high monopoly profit. The verb ''monopolise'' or ''monopolize'' refers to the ''process'' by which a company gains the ability to raise prices or exclude competitors. In economics, a monopoly is a single seller. In law, a monopoly is a business entity that has significant market power, that is, the power to charge Monopoly price, overly high prices, which is associated with unfair price raises. Although monopolies may be big businesses, size is not a characteristic of a monopoly. A small business may still have the power to raise prices in a small industry (or market). A monopoly may als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Competitive Equilibrium
Competitive equilibrium (also called: Walrasian equilibrium) is a concept of economic equilibrium, introduced by Kenneth Arrow and Gérard Debreu in 1951, appropriate for the analysis of commodity markets with flexible prices and many traders, and serving as the benchmark of efficiency in economic analysis. It relies crucially on the assumption of a competitive environment where each trader decides upon a quantity that is so small compared to the total quantity traded in the market that their individual transactions have no influence on the prices. Competitive markets are an ideal standard by which other market structures are evaluated. Definitions A competitive equilibrium (CE) consists of two elements: * A price function P. It takes as argument a vector representing a bundle of commodities, and returns a positive real number that represents its price. Usually the price function is linear - it is represented as a vector of prices, a price for each commodity type. * An allocation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marshallian Demand Function
In microeconomics, a consumer's Marshallian demand function (named after Alfred Marshall) is the quantity they demand of a particular good as a function of its price, their income, and the prices of other goods, a more technical exposition of the standard demand function. It is a solution to the utility maximization problem of how the consumer can maximize their utility for given income and prices. A synonymous term is uncompensated demand function, because when the price rises the consumer is not compensated with higher nominal income for the fall in their real income, unlike in the Hicksian demand function. Thus the change in quantity demanded is a combination of a substitution effect and a wealth effect. Although Marshallian demand is in the context of partial equilibrium theory, it is sometimes called Walrasian demand as used in general equilibrium theory (named after Léon Walras). According to the utility maximization problem, there are L commodities with price vector p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hicksian Demand Function
In microeconomics, a consumer's Hicksian demand function (or compensated demand function) represents the quantity of a good demanded when the consumer minimizes expenditure while maintaining a fixed level of utility. The Hicksian demand function illustrates how a consumer would adjust their demand for a good in response to a price change, assuming their income is adjusted (or compensated) to keep them on the same indifference curve—ensuring their utility remains unchanged. Mathematically, :h(p, \bar) = \arg \min_x \sum_i p_i x_i : \ \ u(x) \geq \bar . where h(p,u) is the Hicksian demand function or commodity bundle demanded, at price vector p and utility level \bar. Here p is a vector of prices, and x is a vector of quantities demanded, so the sum of all p_ix_i is the total expenditure on all goods. The Hicksian demand function isolates the effect of relative prices on demand, assuming utility remains constant. It contrasts with the Marshallian demand function, which acco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slutsky Equation
In microeconomics, the Slutsky equation (or Slutsky identity), named after Eugen Slutsky, relates changes in Marshallian (uncompensated) demand to changes in Hicksian (compensated) demand, which is known as such since it compensates to maintain a fixed level of utility. There are two parts of the Slutsky equation, namely the substitution effect and income effect. In general, the substitution effect is negative. Slutsky derived this formula to explore a consumer's response as the price of a commodity changes. When the price increases, the budget set moves inward, which also causes the quantity demanded to decrease. In contrast, if the price decreases, the budget set moves outward, which leads to an increase in the quantity demanded. The substitution effect is due to the effect of the relative price change, while the income effect is due to the effect of income being freed up. The equation demonstrates that the change in the demand for a good caused by a price change is the resul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indirect Utility Function
__NOTOC__ In economics, a consumer's indirect utility function v(p, w) gives the consumer's maximal attainable utility when faced with a vector p of goods prices and an amount of income w. It reflects both the consumer's preferences and market conditions. This function is called indirect because consumers usually think about their preferences in terms of what they consume rather than prices. A consumer's indirect utility v(p, w) can be computed from their utility function u(x), defined over vectors x of quantities of consumable goods, by first computing the most preferred affordable bundle, represented by the vector x(p, w) by solving the utility maximization problem, and second, computing the utility u(x(p, w)) the consumer derives from that bundle. The resulting indirect utility function is :v(p,w)=u(x(p,w)). The indirect utility function is: *Continuous on R''n''+ × R+ where ''n'' is the number of goods; *Decreasing in prices; *Strictly increasing in income; * Homogenous wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indifference Curve
In economics, an indifference curve connects points on a graph representing different quantities of two goods, points between which a consumer is ''indifferent''. That is, any combinations of two products indicated by the curve will provide the consumer with equal levels of utility, and the consumer has no preference for one combination or bundle of goods over a different combination on the same curve. One can also refer to each point on the indifference curve as rendering the same level of utility (satisfaction) for the consumer. In other words, an indifference curve is the locus of various points showing different combinations of two goods providing equal utility to the consumer. Utility is then a device to represent preferences rather than something from which preferences come. The main use of indifference curves is in the representation of potentially observable demand patterns for individual consumers over commodity bundles. Indifference curve analysis is a purely technol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
