Question: A consumer has quasilinear utility ( , 1 , 2 , . . . , ( , 1 , 2 , . . . ,

A consumer has quasilinear utility (,1,2,...,(,1,2,...,
)=+(1,2,...,)=+(1,2,...,
),), where:
is the quantity of good ,,
is money ((left over after paying for goods 1,...,),1,...,), and
is a differentiable strictly concave function ((this just means that if the optimum is
interior, you can find it by taking first-order conditions).).
She has income and faces prices 1,2,...,,1,2,...,, all measured in the same units as ..
a)) Write the consumers budget constraint.
b)) Find the first-order conditions that determine how much of each good is consumed,
assuming that the solution is interior.
[[Hint: Use the substitution method. If youre having trouble doing the problem for an
arbitrary function ,, do the case where =1=1 or 22 and (1,2,...,(1,2,...,
)=1)=1 or
1+21+2 and see if you can generalize. Without a specific functional form, you can
simply write the partial derivative of (1,2,...,(1,2,...,
)) with respect to as
(1,...,)(1,...,)
.].]
c)) What condition on is needed for an interior solution? [[Hint: cannot be negative at the
consumers optimum.]] Express your answer in terms of ,1,2,...,,1,2,..., and the quantities
from the optimum determined in part a,, which you may denote 11
,2,2
,...,,...,
..
For the remainder of this question, assume that the solution is always interior, so that your
answer from part a is valid.
d)) Find
.[.[Hint: Do your first-order conditions depend on ?]?] Are goods 1,...,1,..., normal,
inferior, or neither?
Suppose the price of good 11 increases from 11 t

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