1. What is the difference between ordinal utility and cardinal utility? Explain why theassumption of cardinal utility is not needed in order to rank consumer choices!2. Can you explain why taking a monotonic transformation of a utility function doesn'tchange the marginal rate of substitution?3. Assume that Rossi consumes only bananas and avocado. Fortunately, she likes both goods.The consumption bundle where Rossi consumes xl units of bananas per week and x2 units ofavocado per week is written as (x1, x2).(a) In fact, Rossi's preferences can be represented by the utility function u(x1, x2) =4/x1 + x2. The price for bananas is $1 per unit and the price for avocado is $2 perunit. Rossi has $24 to spend on the two goods. Write down Rossi's budget constraintand solve for her optimal consumption bundle.(b) Now Rossi has $10 more to spend on the two goods ($34 in total), and what is heroptimal consumption bundle now? Compare your solution with the previous one. Canyou say anything interesting?

Note: We’ll answer the first question since the exact one wasn’t specified. Please submit a new…

Answered: 1. What is the difference between…

1. What is the difference between ordinal utility and cardinal utility? Explain why the assumption of cardinal utility is not needed in order to rank consumer choices!

Exploring Economics

8th Edition

ISBN:9781544336329

Author:Robert L. Sexton

Publisher:Robert L. Sexton

Chapter10: Consumer Choice Theory

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 8P

See similar textbooks

Similar questions

3. Finding the optimal combination of two goods - $2. Suppose that Larry buys Larry enjoys consuming both cheese and fruit. Each pound of cheese costs Pc = $1, and each pound of fruit costs PF 300 pounds of cheese and 200 pounds of fruit per year. The following graphs show his marginal utility curves for cheese and fruit. At his current consumption level, Larry's marginal utility from consuming the last pound of cheese he bought is MUC S 30 utils per pound, and his marginal utility from consuming the last pound of fruit he bought is MUF = 30 utils per pound. 60 40 30 IL 20 10 400 500 600 50 40 A 30 B C D 20 10 0 0 100 Is Larry currently maximizing his utility? Combination 200 300 CHEESE (Pounds per year) 300, 30 (Pounds per Year) 200 400 300 No; he could buy less cheese and more fruit, not spend any more money, and be better off. O No; he likes fruit and cheese more than other goods, so he should buy more of both. O No; he could buy more cheese and less fruit, not spend any more money,…
5. Janice consumes two goods, X and Y. Janice has a utility function given by the expression: U=4X05Y05 and current prices of X and Y are $25 and $50, respectively. Janice currently has an income of 750 unit per time period. a. Write an expression for Janice's budget constraint. b. Calculate the marginal rate of substitution of X for Y. (horizontal line X, vertical line Y). c. Calculate the values of X and Y that will maximize utility. d. Graph your answers (budget line, indifference curve)
Suppose that Dale consumes only coffee and cheese, both of which have diminishing marginal utility. For each of the following cases, determine whether Dale should 1Consume more coffee and less cheese, or2Consume less coffee and more cheese: 1.The marginal rate of substitution of cheese for coffee is 3 (i.e., the marginal utility of cheese is three times the marginal utility of coffee), while the price ratio is 2 (i.e., cheese costs twice as much as coffee). 2.The marginal rate of substitution of cheese for coffee is 1 (i.e., the marginal utility of cheese is equal to the marginal utility of coffee) while the price ratio is 2 (i.e., cheese costs twice as much as coffee). 3.The marginal rate of substitution is initially equal to the price ratio, but the price of coffee increases. 4.The marginal rate of substitution is initially equal to the price ratio, but the price of cheese decreases. 5.The marginal rate of substitution is initially equal to the price ratio, but Dale enters exam…
At Annie's current level of consumption, let MUp denote Annie's marginal utility from an additional pound of pasta, and let MUb denote Annie's marginal utility from an additional loaf of bread. Thus, MUp/MUb represents the number of loaves of bread Annie has to give up in order to buy another pound of pasta. the number of loaves of bread Annie is willing to give up to have another pound of pasta. the number of pounds of pasta Annie has to give up in order to buy another loaf of bread. the number of pounds of pasta Annie is willing to give up to have another loaf of bread.
Suppose utility can be measured by "utils" and that Jim buys both coffee and bagels. The price of coffee is $2 and the price of a bagel is $3. If Jim is currently consuming coffee and bagels such that the marginal utility from the last cup of coffee consumed was 6 utils and the marginal utility from the last bagel consumed was 12 utils, is Jim maximizing utility? Why or why not? If not, what should Jim do? Explain in detail.
Currently, Paula is maximizing utility by purchasing five TV dinners (T) and four LeanCuisine Meals (L) each week. Suppose both T and L cost $5 each.a. Graph Paula’s initial utility-maximizing choice.b. Suppose the price of T falls by $1 and the price of L rises by $1.25. Can Paula stillafford to buy her initial consumption choices? What do you know about her new budgetconstraint?c. Make a new graph to show why Paula will choose to consume more T and less Lgiven her new budget constraint to maximize utility. Is her utility increased, decreased,or unchanged given the price change? [Hint: try to make the graph as big as possible tosee how the utility is tangent/intersects with the lines more easily] d. In part (b), suppose another scenario where the price of T rises by $1 and the priceof L falls by $1.25. Is Paula’s utility increased, decreased, or unchanged given the pricechange?
Answer the following short questions:a. Suppose that a consumer’s preferences between goods x andy are represented by the utility function u(x, y) = x^2 + 16xy + 64y^2. If these two goods have the same price, describe the optimal consumptionchoice of this consumer.b. Suppose that when the price of a good change, the incomeand substitution effects change the consumer’s demand for that goodin opposite directions.i. Is this good a normal or an inferior good? Explain.ii. Is this good a Giffen or an ordinary good? Explain.c. Is the following statement true or false? The differencebetween a monopolist’s marginal cost and its profit-maximizing price issmaller when the demand is more elastic.
Maria has a fixed weekly budget which she has been spending on goods A, B, and C. Her utility function exhibits a diminishing marginal rate of substitution. She uses the equi-marginal principle to decide how much to purchase of each product. Suppose that for Maria's current consumption bundle it holds that MUA MUB MUC PA Рв PC You may assume that she has spent her entire budget. If Maria wishes to maximise utility, next week, she should A) buy product A only. B) buy products B and C only. C) buy less of A and more of B and C. D) buy more of A and less of B and C.
Currently, Paula is maximizing utility by purchasing 5 TV dinners (T) and 4 Lean Cuisine meals (L) each week. Graph Paula’s initial utility-maximizing choice. Suppose that the price of T rises by $1 and the price of L falls by $1.25. Can Paula still afford to buy her initial consumption choices? What do you know about her new budget constraint? Use your graph to show why Paula will choose to consume more L and less T given her new budget constraint. How do you know that her utility will increase? Some economists define the ‘‘substitution effect’’ of a price change to be the kind of change shown in part c. That is, the effect represents the change in consumption when the budget constraint rotates about the initial consumption bundle. Precisely how does this notion of a substitution effect differ from the one defined in the text? If the substitution effect were defined as in parts, how would you define ‘‘the income effect’’ to get a complete analysis of how a person responds to a…
Total utility O diminished as the quantity of a good increases increases as long as more goods are acquired increases as long as marginal utility increases O increases as long as marginal utility is positive diminishes as consumption of some good rises
Ann consumes only cookies and muffins. At her current consumption bundle,her marginal utility from cookies is 3 and her marginal utility from muffins is 2. Eachcookie costs $2 and each muffin costs $1. Is she maximizing her utility? If not, how canshe increase her utility while keeping her expenditure constant?
6. MRS and utility maximization Suppose your classmate Bob loves to eat dessert—so much so that he allocates his entire weekly budget to apple crisp and pie. The price of one bowl of apple crisp is $1.25, and the price of a piece of blueberry pie is $3.75. At his current level of consumption, Bob's marginal rate of substitution (MRS) of apple crisp for pie is 2. In other words, Bob is willing to sacrifice two bowls of apple crisp for one piece of pie per week. Does Bob's current consumption bundle maximize his utility? That is, does it make him as well off as possible? If not, how should he change it to maximize his utility? Bob could increase his utility by buying more apple crisp and less pie per week. Bob could increase his utility by buying less apple crisp and more pie per week. Bob's current bundle maximizes his utility, and he should keep it unchanged.