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Household Behavior and Consumer Choice: Appendix: Indifference Curves
Household Behavior and Consumer Choice: Appendix: Indifference Curves
Household Behavior
and Consumer Choice
Appendix: Indifference Curves
© 2004 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Principles of Economics, 7/e Karl Case, Ray Fair
Understanding the Microeconomy
C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
• Demand in input
markets
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© 2004 Prentice Hall Business Publishing
C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
• Households
demand in output
markets and
supply labor and
capital in input
markets.
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
Assumptions
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
Assumptions
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
Assumptions
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
• A budget constraint
separates those
combinations of goods
and services that are
available, given limited
income, from those that
are not.
• The available
combinations make up
the opportunity set.
© 2004 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Principles of Economics, 7/e Karl Case, Ray Fair 10 of 38
C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
• Point E is unattainable
given the current income
prices.
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
• Diminishing marginal
utility helps to explain why
demand slopes down.
• Marginal utility falls with
each additional unit
consumed, so people are
not willing to pay as much.
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
Consumer Surplus
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
• Water is plentiful.
• If the price of water was
zero, you might argue that
water has no value. But it
does. Consumers enjoy a
huge consumer surplus
from water consumption.
• Household willingness to
pay far exceeds the zero
price.
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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Income and Substitution
C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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Income and Substitution
C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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Saving and Borrowing:
C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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Saving and Borrowing:
C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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Saving and Borrowing:
C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
• An indifference curve
is a set of points , each
point representing a
combination of goods
X and Y, all of which
yields the same total
utility.
• The consumer is
worse of at A’ than at
A.
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
• A preference map is a
whole set of indifference
curves.
• Each consumer has a
unique preference map.
• As we move downward
along an indifference
curve, the marginal rate
of substitution declines.
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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C H A P T E R 5: Household Behavior and Consumer Choice
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