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The delimitation of Giffenity for the Wold-Juréen (1953) utility function using relative prices: A note

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  • Sproule, Robert A.

Abstract

In the study of Giffen behavior or "Giffenity", there remains a paradox. On the one hand, the Wold-Juréen (1953) utility function has been touted as the progenitor of a multi-decade search for those two-good, particular utility functions, which exhibit Giffenity. On the other hand, there is no evidence that the Wold-Juréen (1953) utility function has ever been fully evaluated for Giffenity, with perhaps one minor exception, Weber (The case of a Giffen good: Comment, 1997). But there, Weber showed that the Giffenity of Good 1 depends upon the relative magnitude of income vis-à-vis the price of Good 2. Weber's precondition is so vague that it lacks broad appeal. This paper offers a new and a clear cut precondition for Giffen behavior under the Wold-Juréen (1953) utility function. That is, we show that if the price of Good 1 is greater than or equal to the price of Good 2, then Good 1 is a Giffen good.

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  • Sproule, Robert A., 2020. "The delimitation of Giffenity for the Wold-Juréen (1953) utility function using relative prices: A note," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 14, pages 1-8.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifweej:202026
    DOI: 10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2020-26
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Vandermeulen, Daniel C, 1972. "Upward Sloping Demand Curves Without the Giffen Paradox," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(3), pages 453-458, June.
    2. Biederman, Daniel K., 2015. "A strictly-concave, non-spliced, Giffen-compatible utility function," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 24-28.
    3. Christian E. Weber, 1997. "The Case of a Giffen Good: Comment," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 36-44, March.
    4. Peter Sørensen, 2007. "Simple Utility Functions with Giffen Demand," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 31(2), pages 367-370, May.
    5. John H. Nachbar, 1998. "The last word on Giffen goods?," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 11(2), pages 403-412.
    6. Xavier Vives, 1987. "Small Income Effects: A Marshallian Theory of Consumer Surplus and Downward Sloping Demand," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 54(1), pages 87-103.
    7. Landi, Massimiliano, 2015. "A class of symmetric and quadratic utility functions generating Giffen demand," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 50-54.
    8. John S. Chipman & Jean-Sébastien Lenfant, 2002. "Slutsky's 1915 Article: How It Came to Be Found and Interpreted," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 34(3), pages 553-597, Fall.
    9. Junko Doi & Kazumichi Iwasa & Koji Shimomura, 2012. "Giffen Behavior Independent of the Wealth Level," Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, in: Wim Heijman & Pierre Mouche (ed.), New Insights into the Theory of Giffen Goods, pages 105-126, Springer.
    10. Moffatt, Peter G., 2002. "Is Giffen behaviour compatible with the axioms of consumer theory?," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 259-267, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sproule, Robert & Karras, Michael, 2022. "A Precondition-Free Demonstration That the Wold-Juréen (1953) Utility Function (Always) Generates a Giffen Good," MPRA Paper 113005, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Sproule, Robert, 2022. "On The History and The Mathematics of The Wold-Juréen (1953) Utility Function, And Its Basis For The Modeling of Giffen Behavior," EconStor Preprints 263912, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    3. Sproule, Robert & Karras, Michael, 2022. "In Search of A Giffen Input: A Comprehensive Analysis of The Wold-Juréen (1953) Production Function," MPRA Paper 113007, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Sproule, Robert & Karras, Michael, 2022. "Two Conditions Which Induce Giffen Behavior In Any Numerical Analysis When Applied To The Wold-Juréen (1953) Utility Function," MPRA Paper 112558, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Slutsky decomposition; Giffen paradox; Wold-Juréen (1953) utility function;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate
    • A23 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Graduate
    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory

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