A Definition of Luxury and Necessity for Cardinal Utility Functions

Timothy Besley

Economic Journal, 1989, vol. 99, issue 397, 844-49

Abstract: This note proposes a definition of luxury and necessity that is useful when utility functions are cardinal. The author offers an exposition using the profit function representation of preferences and also gives some motivation. Applications are found in the theory of the consumer in an intertemporal setting, commodity price stabilization theory, and a consumer's decision to hedge in a futures market. Copyright 1989 by Royal Economic Society.

Date: 1989
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