资源描述：
《尼克尔森中级微观课件.ppt》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在教育资源-天天文库。
1、Chapter3PREFERENCESANDUTILITYCopyright©2005bySouth-Western,adivisionofThomsonLearning.Allrightsreserved.1AxiomsofRationalChoiceCompletenessifAandBareanytwosituations,anindividualcanalwaysspecifyexactlyoneofthesepossibilities:AispreferredtoBBispreferredtoAAa
2、ndBareequallyattractive2AxiomsofRationalChoiceTransitivityifAispreferredtoB,andBispreferredtoC,thenAispreferredtoCassumesthattheindividual’schoicesareinternallyconsistent3AxiomsofRationalChoiceContinuityifAispreferredtoB,thensituationssuitably“closeto”Amust
3、alsobepreferredtoBusedtoanalyzeindividuals’responsestorelativelysmallchangesinincomeandprices4UtilityGiventheseassumptions,itispossibletoshowthatpeopleareabletorankinorderallpossiblesituationsfromleastdesirabletomostEconomistscallthisrankingutilityifAispref
4、erredtoB,thentheutilityassignedtoAexceedstheutilityassignedtoBU(A)>U(B)5UtilityUtilityrankingsareordinalinnaturetheyrecordtherelativedesirabilityofcommoditybundlesBecauseutilitymeasuresarenotunique,itmakesnosensetoconsiderhowmuchmoreutilityisgainedfromAthan
5、fromBItisalsoimpossibletocompareutilitiesbetweenpeople6UtilityUtilityisaffectedbytheconsumptionofphysicalcommodities,psychologicalattitudes,peergrouppressures,personalexperiences,andthegeneralculturalenvironmentEconomistsgenerallydevoteattentiontoquantifiab
6、leoptionswhileholdingconstanttheotherthingsthataffectutilityceterisparibusassumption7UtilityAssumethatanindividualmustchooseamongconsumptiongoodsx1,x2,…,xnTheindividual’srankingscanbeshownbyautilityfunctionoftheform:utility=U(x1,x2,…,xn;otherthings)thisfunc
7、tionisuniqueuptoanorder-preservingtransformation8EconomicGoodsIntheutilityfunction,thex’sareassumedtobe“goods”moreispreferredtolessQuantityofxQuantityofyx*y*Preferredtox*,y*??Worsethanx*,y*9IndifferenceCurvesAnindifferencecurveshowsasetofconsumptionbundlesa
8、mongwhichtheindividualisindifferentQuantityofxQuantityofyx1y1y2x2U1Combinations(x1,y1)and(x2,y2)providethesamelevelofutility10MarginalRateofSubstitutionThenegativeoftheslopeoftheindifferencecurveatanyp
