Question: Consider a household whose utility is determined by the consumption of two goods, A and B . Let c A and c B denote the

Consider a household whose utility is determined by the consumption of two goods, A and
B. Let cA and cB denote the consumption of good A and good B, respectively. The utility of this
household can be represented by a utility function
U(cA,cB)=logcA+910logcB.
The prices of goods A and B are given by pA=10 and pB=9, respectively, and this household
is endowed with budget I=532.
(a) Check if the utility function (1) satisfies i)UcA>0,UcB>0 and ii)UcA,cA0,UcB,cB0, where
UcA and UcB denote delUdelcA and delUdelcB, respectively, and UcA,cA and UcB,cB denotes del2UdelcA2 and
del2UdelcB2, respectively. Describe the economic meaning of these conditions.
(b) Write down this household's static optimization problem over the two goods.
(c) Set up a Lagrangian equation and derive the optimal conditions.
(d) Express the marginal rate of substitution (MRS hereafter) between the two goods A and B in
an analytical form and describe the relationship between the MRS and the relative price (between
the two goods A and B) at the optimum. Explain the economic reason why this relationship has
to hold at the optimum.
(e) Solve the optimization problem.
(f) On the cA-cB plot, illustrate the optimum, the budget constraint, the indifference curve passing
the optimum. Describe how the indifference curve and the budget constraint meet with each other
at the optimum. Explain mathematically why they meet in that way.
(g) Assume that the price of good A,pA, changes from pA=10 to pA=11, while the price of
good B,pB, remains the same. Find the new optimum. (i.e., solve the optimization problem again
under the new prices.)
(h) Explain the wealth effect and the substitution effect caused by the price change described in
question (g).
Consider a household whose utility is determined

Step by Step Solution

There are 3 Steps involved in it

1 Expert Approved Answer
Step: 1 Unlock blur-text-image
Question Has Been Solved by an Expert!

Get step-by-step solutions from verified subject matter experts

Step: 2 Unlock
Step: 3 Unlock

Students Have Also Explored These Related Economics Questions!