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Chapter 3: Consumer Preferences and the Concept of Utility 3.1 Representations of Preferences A market basket or bundle is a
Consider a basket that contains two goods: food and clothing. Reference Figure 3.1 to complete the following: Basket G contains _____ units of clothing and _____ units of food. Basket B contains _____ units of clothing and _____ units of food. Basket J contains _____ units of clothing and _____ units of food. Consumer preferences are indications of
Assumptions about consumer preferences 1. Preferences are ________________________. - this means - notation for A is preferred to B ________________ - notation for A and B are equally preferred _____________ 2. Preferences are _________________________. - this means 3. ________________ is better. Ordinal and Cardinal Ranking Ordinal ranking refers to
Preferences with a single good: the concept of Marginal Utility [screencast] Watch the video for this section and fill in the notes here. Suppose Sarah purchases only one good, hamburgers. h denotes the number she purchases each week. Her utility function is given as U(h) =
Sarahs preferences are ____________________________: - each value of h yields a value of U(h), so baskets can be ______________________ Sarahs preferences are ____________________________:
Sarahs preferences satisfy ___________________________ . - more h yields a higher value for U(h).
Formula:
Graphically speaking:
Watch the video for this section and fill in the notes here. [screencast] Finding marginal utility from total utility Recall that marginal utility is the slope of total utility. The expression for slope can be found by taking the first derivative. If utility is derived from one good, x, then the expression for marginal utility is found as follows:
Example:
U(h) =
MU(1) =
MU(h)
MU(2) =
MU(3) =
MU(4) =
MU(5) =
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 h
___________________________________________ When drawing Total Utility and Marginal Utility curve, keep the following in mind: 1.
2.
3.
Preferences with Multiple Goods: Marginal Utility, Indifference Curves, and the Marginal Rate of Substitution Review Figure 3.4.
In the case of multiple goods, the marginal utility of any one good is:
For U(x,y)
Work through the LBD exercise 3.1 here: The utility function is U =
[screencast]
Show that this consumer believes more is better for each good. More is better:
Show that U is increasing in x and y. - show that U has a ___________________ slope - show that MUx and MUy are __________________
Show that the marginal utility of x is diminishing. Show that the marginal utility of y is diminishing.
Does this consumer believe more is better? Is utility increasing in both H and R? 1. look at U 2. look for positive MU
Is there diminishing marginal utility for H? Is there diminishing marginal utility for R?
4 properties of Indifference curves: 1. When the consumer likes both goods, indifference curves have a _____________ slope.
[screencast]
The Marginal Rate of Substitution is the rate at which a consumer is willing to __________________ to get an ________________________________ while holding utility ____________.
The MRSx,y is the ______________________________________ of the indifference curve. Derive: Suppose a consumer changes their consumption of x by x and changes their consumption of y by y. The change in utility (U) can be expressed as follows: U = MUx (x) + MUy (y)
[screencast]
1. If both marginal utilities are positive, then the indifference curve has a negative slope.
3. Is MRSx,y diminishing?
[screencast]
1. If both marginal utilities are positive, then the indifference curve has a negative slope.
3. Is MRSx,y diminishing?
3.3 Special Preferences Perfect Substitutes Perfect substitutes (in consumption) are The general utility function that describes these preferences is:
Example: Suppose a consumer is always willing to substitute 2 pancakes for 1 waffle. The utility function that would express this preference is given by:
The marginal utility of pancakes is: The marginal utility of waffles is: If pancakes is the x-variable and waffles is the y-variable, then the MRSp,w is: The slope of the indifference curve is: Illustrate on a graph.
Perfect Complements Perfect complements (in consumption) are The general utility function that describes these preferences is: Illustrate on a graph.
Quasilinear Utility Functions A quasilinear utility function is The general equation is: Illustrate on a graph.