 Models of Consumer BehaviourAlan Brown and Angus Deaton from Palgrave Macmillan Abstract: Abstract In the history of demand analysis two threads, related but separable, can be discerned. These are first the work of economists interested in the discovery of general laws governing the operation of markets, particularly agricultural markets; and second the work of those, originally statisticians, interested in the psychological laws governing what has come to be called consumer preference. This dichotomy continues to characterise the subject. As computing opportunities and skills have expanded, empirical research has produced more sophisticated demand equations while, at the same time, theoretical economists and mathematicians have enormously increased our knowledge of the pure mathematics of preference relations. While these two activities have not always been in balance, the great strength of empirical demand analysis has been the existence of strong theoretical foundations which could be drawn upon or modified as practice demanded. This interplay between the theory and reality has been perhaps more fruitful in this than in any other branch of economics. Keywords: Utility Function; Demand Function; Consumer Behaviour; Marginal Utility; Price Elasticity (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-349-01860-4_4 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-01860-4_4 Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan |
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