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Consumer Choice. Consumer Choice. You are constantly making economic decisions At the highest level of generality, we are all very much alike Come up against the same constraints Too little income or wealth Too little time to enjoy it all
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Consumer Choice • You are constantly making economic decisions • At the highest level of generality, we are all very much alike • Come up against the same constraints • Too little income or wealth • Too little time to enjoy it all • The theory of individual decision making is called “consumer theory”
The Budget Constraint • Virtually all individuals must face two facts of economic life • Have to pay prices for the goods and services they buy • Have limited funds to spend • A consumer’s budget constraint identifies which combinations of goods and services the consumer can afford with a limited budget • Budget line is the graphical representation of a budget constraint • The price of one good relative to the price of another • The slope of the budget line indicates the spending trade-off between one good and another • Amount of one good, that must be sacrificed in order to buy more of another good • If PY is the price of the good on the vertical axis, then the slope of the budget line is –PX / PY
Number of Movies per Month With $150 per month, Max can afford 15 movies and no concerts, . . . 15 12 movies and 1 concert or any other combination on the budget line. 12 Points belowthe line are also affordable. C 9 D 6 But not points above the line. E 3 F Number of Concerts per Month 1 2 3 4 5 Figure 1: The Budget Constraint A B H G
Changes in the Budget Line • Changes in income • Increase in income will shift the budget line upward (and rightward) • A decrease in income will shift the budget line downward (and leftward) • Shifts are parallel • Changes in income do not affect the budget line’s slope • Changes in price • In each case, one of the budget line’s intercepts will change, as well as its slope • When the price of a good changes, the budget line rotates • Both its slope and one of its intercepts will change
(a) Number of Movies per Month 1. An increase in incomeshifts the budget line rightward, with no change in slope. 30 15 Number of Concerts per Month 5 10 15 Figure 2a: Changes in the Budget Line
(b) Number of Movies per Month 2. A decrease in the price ofmoviesrotates thebudget line upward. 30 15 Number of Concerts per Month 5 15 Figure 2b: Changes in the Budget Line
(c) Number of Movies per Month 3. while a decrease in the price of concerts rotates it rightward. 30 15 Number of Concerts per Month 5 15 Figure 2c: Changes in the Budget Line
Preferences • How can we possibly speak systematically about people’s preferences? • People are different • Despite differences in preferences, can find some important common denominators • In our theory of consumer choice, we will focus on these common denominators
Rationality • One common denominator • People have preferences • We assume that you can look at two alternatives and state either that you prefer one to the other or • That you are entirely indifferent between the two—you value them equally • Another common denominator • Preferences are logically consistent, or transitive • When a consumer can make choices, and is logically consistent, we say that she has rational preferences • Rationality is a matter of how you make your choices, and not what choices you make • What matters is that you make logically consistent choices
More Is Better • We generally feel that more is better • The model of consumer choice in this chapter is designed for preferences that satisfy the “more is better” condition • It would have to be modified to take account of exceptions • The consumer will always choose a point on the budget line • Rather than a point below it
Two Theories • Theories of consumer decision making • Marginal utility • Indifference curve • Both assume that preferences are rational • Both assume that consumer would be better off with more of any good • Both theories come to same general conclusions about consumer behavior • However, to arrive at those conclusions each theory takes a different road • Our goal is to describe and predict how consumers are likely to behave in markets • Rather than describe what actually goes on in their minds
Consumer Decisions: The Marginal Utility Approach • Ahli Ekonomi mengandaikan bahawa mana-mana pembuat keputusan melakukan sesuatu yang terbaik dalam apa-apa keadaan • Economists assume that any decision maker tries to make the best out of any situation • Mengikut teori marginal utiliti pengguna akan memaksimakan utiliti mereka • Marginal utility theory treats consumers as striving to maximize their utility • Apa-apa yg membuat pengguna berada dikedudukkan lebih baik dikatakan meningkatkan utilitinya • Anything that makes the consumer better off is assumed to raise his utility • Anything that makes the consumer worse off will decrease his utility
Utility and Marginal Utility • Utiliti marginal tambahan satu unit • Marginal utility of an additional unit • Perubahan kepada utiliti akibat daripada menggunakan tambahan satu unit barangan • Change in utility derived from consuming an additional unit of a good • The law of diminishing marginal utility, as defined by Alfred Marshall (1842-1924) states that • Marginal utility of a thing to anyone diminishes with every increase in the amount of it he already has
Utils 70 60 50 40 1. The change in total utility from one more ice cream cone . . . 30 20 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ice Cream Cones per Week 3. Marginal utility falls as more cones are consumed. 2. is called the marginal utility of an additional cone. Utils 30 20 10 2 1 3 4 5 6 Ice Cream Cones per Week Figure 3: Total And Marginal Utility Total Utility Marginal Utility
Combining the Budget Constraint and Preferences (Marginal Utility Approach) • Sekiranya kita menggunakan keutamaan pengguna (nilai utiliti marginal) dengan apa yang mampu (bajet konstraint ), kita boleh menggunakannya sebagai panduan untuk menentukan pilihan yang memaksimakam utiliti • If we combine information about preferences (marginal utility values) with information about what is affordable (the budget constraint) • Can develop a useful rule to guide us to an individual’s utility-maximizing choice • Utiliti yang paling tinggi adalah titik di mana utiliti marginal tiap-tiap ringgit adalah sama untuk kedua-kedua barangan • Highest possible utility will be point at which marginal utility per dollar is the same for both goods
Number of Marginal Marginal utility Concerts Utility per dollar spent per month from concert on last concert O - 50 1 1500 50 2 1200 40 3 600 20 4 450 15 5 360 12
Number of Marginal Utility Marginal Utility per dollar movies per month from last movie spent on last movie 15 50 5 12 100 10 9 150 15 6 200 20 3 350 35 0 -
Number of Movies per Month A 15 B 12 C 9 D 6 E 3 F Number of Concerts per Month 5 1 2 3 4 Figure 4: Consumer Decision Making G
Combining the Budget Constraint and Preferences (Marginal Utility Approach) • Untuk dua barangan x and Y, dengan harga Px and PY, apabila MUx / Px > MUY / PY, kedudukkan pengguna adalah lebih baik sekiranya bergerak daripada x ke arah y Apabila MUY / PY > MUX / PX kedudukkan pengguna lebih baik sekiranya bergerak drp x kepada y • For any two goods x and y, with prices Px and PY, whenever MUx / Px > MUY / PY, a consumer is made better off shifting away from y and toward x • When MUY / PY > MUX / PX, a consumer is made better off by shifting spending away from x and toward y
Rumusan yang penting • Leads to an important conclusion • Penguna akan memilih titik di atas garisan bajet di mana utiliti marginal adalah sama untuk kedua barangan (MUX / PX = MUY / PY) • A utility-maximizing consumer will choose the point on the budget line where marginal utility per dollar is the same for both goods (MUX / PX = MUY / PY) • Pada titik ini tidak ada faedah tambahan drp menambah atau mengurangkan barang x atau y • At that point, there is no further gain from reallocating expenditures in either direction
Combining the Budget Constraint and Preferences (Marginal Utility Approach) • No matter how many goods there are to choose from, when the consumer is doing as well as possible • It must be true that MUX / PX = MUY / PY for any pair of goods x and y • If this condition is not satisfied, consumer will be better off consuming more of one and less of the other good in the pair
What Happens When Things Change: Changes In Income • Peningkatan pendapatan –tidak ada perubahan kpd harga- mengakibatkan kuantiti baru yang di minta untuk tiap2 barangan • A rise in income—with no change in price—leads to a new quantity demanded for each good • Sama ada barangan itu adalah barangan normal (kuantiti diminta bertambah) atau bawahan ( kuantiti diminta berkurang) bergantung kepada keutamaan pengguna • Whether a particular good is normal (quantity demanded increases) or inferior (quantity demanded decreases) depends on the individual’s preferences • Seperti ditunjukkan oleh utiliti marginal untuk tiap-taip barangan , pada tiap2 titik di atas garisan bajet • As represented by the marginal utilities for each good, at each point along the budget line
30 2. If his preferences are as given in the table, he'll choose point H Number of Movies per Month 27 1. When Max's income rises to $300, his budget line shifts outward. A 15 B 3.But different marginal utility numbers could lead him to H' or H'' 12 H C 9 D 6 E 3 F 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Number of Concerts per Month Figure 5: Effects of an Increase in Income H'' H'
Changes In Price • Kejatuhan harga concert memusingkan garisan bajet ke kanan • A drop in the price of concerts rotates the budget line rightward, pivoting around its vertical intercept • Pengguna akan memilih kombinasi movie dan concert di atas garisan bajet yang membuatnya berada di kedudukkan yang lebih baikiaitu di mana U Marginal tiap2 ringgit adalah sama untuk dua barangan • The consumer will select the combination of movies and concerts on his budget line that makes him as well off as possible • Will be combination at which marginal utility per dollar spent on both goods is the same
1. When the price of concerts is $30, point D is best for Max. 2. If the price falls to $10, Max's budget line rotates rightward, and he choose point J. 15 Number of Movies per Month 10 8 3. And if the price drops to $5, he chooses point K. 6 0 3 5 7 10 15 30 Price per Concert $30 4. The demand curve shows the quantity Max chooses at each price. 10 5 3 7 10 Number of Concerts per Month Figure 6: Deriving the Demand Curve K J D D J K
The Individual’s Demand Curve • Curve showing quantity of a good or service demanded by a particular individual at each different price • In theory, an individual’s demand curve could slope upward • However, in practice this doesn’t seem to happen
Income and Substitution Effects • Keluk permintaan memberikan ringkasan menngenai impak dua kesan perubahan harga ke atas kuantiti diminta • Demand curve actually summarizes impact of two separate effects of price change on quantity demanded • kesan ke atas kuantiti adalah sama, adakalanya bertentangan • Effects sometimes work together, and sometimes opposes each other • Kesan Penggantian Substitution effects • Apabila harga jatuh, pengguna akn menggantikan dengan barangan lain di mana harganya tidak berubah • As the price of a good falls, the consumer substitutes that good in place of other goods whose prices have not changed
Kesan penggantian perubahan harga berpunca drp perubahan harga relatif sesuatu barangan • Substitution effect of a price change arises from a change in the relative price of a good • Kuantiti diminta berubah ke arah bertentangan kepada perubahan harga • And it always moves quantity demanded in the opposite direction to the price change • Apabila harga jatuh (bertambah), kesan penggantian menakibatkan pertambahan(perkurangan) kpd kuantiti di minta • When price decreases (increases), substitution effect works to increase (decrease) quantity demanded
The Income Effect • Kejatuhan harga memberikan faedah pengguna seperti memperolehi peningkatan pendapatan • A price cut gives consumer a gift, which is rather like an increase in income • Kesan pendapatanIncome effect • Apabila harga barangan jatuh,kuasa beli pengguna bertambah, mengakibatkan perubahan kpd kuantiti di minta kpd barangan tersebut • As price of a good decreases, the consumer’s purchasing power increases, causing a change in quantity demanded for the good
Kesan pendapatan akibat perubahan harga berpunca drp perubahan kuasa beli ke atas kedua barangan • -Kejatuhan harga (kenaikan harga) menambahkan(mengurangkan) kuasa beli pengguna • Income effect of a price change arises from a change in purchasing power over both goods • A drop (rise) in price increases (decreases) purchasing power • Kesan pendapatan boleh bertindak sama ada menambahkan atau mengurangkan kuantiti di minta ,bergantung kpd sama ada barangan adlah barngan biasa atau bawahan • Income effect can work to either increase or decrease the quantity of a good demanded, depending on whether the good is normal or inferior
Combining Substitution and Income Effect • Perubahan harga akan mengubahkan • A change in the price of a good changes • Harga relatif barangan (kesan penggantian) dan • Kuasa beli keseluruhan pengguna (kesan pendapatan) • Relative price of the good (the substitution effect) and • Overall purchasing power of the consumer (the income effect)
Normal Goods • Kesan penggantian dan pendapatan bertindak bersama -menyebabkan kuantiti di minta berubah ke arah bertentangan dengan harga - perubahan yg berlaku kpd kuantiti yg diminta untuk barangan biasa adalah mengikut hukum permintaan • Substitution and income effects work together • Causing quantity demanded to move in opposite direction of price • Normal goods must always obey law of demand
Inferior Goods • Kesan penggantian dan pendapatan akibat perubahan harga bertindak ke arah bertentangan atara satu sama lain • Substitution and income effects of a price change work against each other • Kesan penggantian mengubah kuantiti diminta ke arah bertentangan dengan harga • Manakala kesan pendapatan bertindak ke arah sama dengan harga • Oleh sebab kesan penggantian sentiasa lebih dominant- penggunaan barangan bawahan adalah mengikut hukum permintaan • Substitution effect moves quantity demanded in the opposite direction of the price • While income effect moves it in same direction of price • But since substitution effect virtually always dominates • Consumption of inferior goods will virtually always obey law of demand
Ultimate Effect (Almost Always) Figure 7: Income and Substitution Effects Price Decrease: Substitution Effect P QD Þ QD QD if normal Purchasing Power QD if inferior Price Increase: Substitution Effect P QD Þ QD QD if normal Purchasing Power QD if inferior
Consumers in Markets • Since market demand curve tells us quantity of a good demanded by all consumers in a market • Can derive it by summing individual demand curves of every consumer in that market
Jerry George Elaine Price Price Price $4 $4 $4 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 0 4 12 0 6 12 0 10 20 Figure 8(a): From Individual To Market Demand = + + c C' C'' Number of Bottles per Week
Price $4 Market Demand Curve 3 2 1 3 10 27 44 Number of Bottles per Week Figure 8(b): From Individual To Market Demand A B C D E
Consumer Theory in Perspective: Extensions of the Model • Problems • Our simple model ignores uncertainty • Imperfect information • People can spend more than their incomes in any given year by borrowing funds or spending out of savings • You might think consumer theory always regards people as relentlessly selfish • In fact, when people trade in impersonal markets, this is mostly true • People try to allocate their spending among different goods to achieve the greatest possible satisfaction
Challenges to the Model • The model of consumer choice is quite versatile • Capable of adapting to more aspects of economic behavior than one might think • But certain types of behavior do not fit model at all • Violating our description of rational preferences
Behavioral Economics • Tries to incorporate approaches of psychology and sociology to answer economic questions • Behavioral economists incorporate notions about people’s actual thinking process in making decisions • Such behavior by large groups of people can alter a market’s equilibrium • We do observe many cases where behavior is not rational • However, we observe far more cases where it is • While the questions raised by behaviorists are fascinating • Standard economic models work much better for most macroeconomic studies • Behavioral economics is more commonly viewed as an addition to the existing body of economic theory, rather than a new independent field of study
Improving Education • Consumer theory can be extended to consider almost any decision between two alternatives including activities where cost is time rather than dollars • Billions of dollars have been spent over the past few decades trying to improve the quality of education • Economists find these studies highly suspect • Experimenters treat students as passive responders to stimuli
Improving Education • Let’s apply our model of consumer choice to a student’s time allocation problem • We’ll assume there are only two activities • Studying economics • Studying French • Each of these activities costs time and there is only so much time available • Students “buy” points on their exams with hours spent studying
(a) (b) Economics Score Economics Score 90 90 80 80 70 75 80 70 75 80 90 French Score French Score Figure 9: Time Allocation F E D C C
Improving Education • Let’s introduce a new computer-assisted technique in the French class • It enables students to learn more French with the same study time or to study less and learn the same amount • It now takes fewer hours to earn a point in French • Opportunity cost of an additional point in French is one point in economics rather than two
Improving Education • How can a new technique in the French course improve performance in economics but not at all in French • Substitution effect will tend to improve French score • If performance in French is a “normal good” • Increase in “purchasing power” will work to increase the French score • But if it is an “inferior good” • Could work to decrease the French score
Improving Education • Expect a student to choose a point somewhere between, with performance improving in both courses • Leads to a general conclusion • When we recognize that students make choices, we expect only some of the impact of a better technique to show up in the course in which it is used • Leads to the conclusion that we remain justified in treating this research with some skepticism