Theory of Consumer Behavior

407 Words2 Pages
Answer questions a through f below. Above you see three indifference curves and a budget line. Answer the following questions. a. If this consumer’s budget (or income) is $600 what is the price of Good A? The cost of Good A, $600/120; thus Pa = $5.00 b. If this consumer’s budget (or income) is $600 what is the price of Good B? The cost of Good B, $600/100; thus Pb = $6.00 c. What is the slope of the budget line? Does this change depending on which combination of goods is purchased? The slope of the budget line can be calculated by dividing the price of Good B by Good A. So we see that -$6.00 / $5.00 = -1.2. So -1.2 is the slope of the budget line. Changing the combination of goods purchased will not change the slope of the budget line. Only a change in income or price of a good will change the slope of the budget line. d. At the point of consumer equilibrium what is the marginal rate of substitution? At the point of consumer equilibrium, the marginal rate of substitution is: MRS = Px / Py = $6 / $5 = -1.2 e. If the price of Good A increases by 50% from its original price which indifference curve will this consumer end up on? Will the consumer be buying more of Good Y, more of Good X, or more of both goods? An increase in the price of Good A by 50% (from $5.00 to $7.50) causes the consumer to achieve indifference curve i. The price increase will cause the consumer to purchase less quantities of Good A. An increase in the price of Good A causes the budget line to rotate backward around the original vertical intercept. The indifference curve inside the budget line is possible to improve by moving upward until the point where the indifference curve is tangent to the budget line. f. If the price of Good B decreases 40% from its original price which indifference curve will this consumer end up on? A decrease in the price of Good B
Open Document