IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/gunwpe/0396.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

On the Law of Demand. - A mathematically simple descriptive approach for general probability density functions

Author

Listed:
  • Larsson, Lars-Göran

    (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)

Abstract

In this paper we assume that choice of commodities at the individual (household) level is made inside the budget set and that the choice can be described by a probability density function. We prove that law of demand()0xExp is valid for one(x) or two choice variables (x, y)*. The law of demand at the market level is valid by summation. We use general probabilistic density functions p(x), p(x, y) defined over the bounded budget set to calculate E(x) and prove law of demand. The expected demand functions are homogeneous of degree zero in prices and income(,,)xyppm.The commodities x and y are normal goods**. The present approach is less complex in a mathematical sense compared to other approaches and is descriptive in its nature. Why not keep descriptions as simple as possible? Entia non sunt multiplicanda praetor necessitatem Beings ought not to be multiplied except out of necessity “Occam´s razor” Encyclopedia Brittannica

Suggested Citation

  • Larsson, Lars-Göran, 2009. "On the Law of Demand. - A mathematically simple descriptive approach for general probability density functions," Working Papers in Economics 396, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0396
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/21488
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John K.-H. Quah, 2000. "The Monotonicity of Individual and Market Demand," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 68(4), pages 911-930, July.
    2. Hildenbrand, Werner, 1983. "On the "Law of Demand."," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 51(4), pages 997-1019, July.
    3. Hardle, Wolfgang & Hildenbrand, Werner & Jerison, Michael, 1991. "Empirical Evidence on the Law of Demand," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(6), pages 1525-1549, November.
    4. Shone, R., 1975. "Microeconomics," Elsevier Monographs, Elsevier, edition 1, number 9780126413502 edited by Shell, Karl.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Larsson, Lars-Göran, 2012. "On Expected Demand Functions without Utility Maximization," Working Papers in Economics 527, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    2. Larsson, Lars-Göran, 2010. "General Properties of Expected Demand Functions: Negativity (No Giffen Good) and Homogeneity - A Descriptive Non Utility Maximizing Approach," Working Papers in Economics 469, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    3. Michael Jerison & John K.-H. Quah, 2006. "Law of Demand," Discussion Papers 06-07, University at Albany, SUNY, Department of Economics.
    4. Alan Kirman, 2006. "Heterogeneity in Economics," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 1(1), pages 89-117, May.
    5. Gaël GIRAUD & Isabelle MARET, 2005. "The Exact Insensitivity of Market Budget Shares and the 'Balancing Effect'," Working Papers of BETA 2005-02, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    6. Werner Hildenbrand & Alois Kneip, 2005. "On behavioral heterogeneity," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 25(1), pages 155-169, January.
    7. Guerrien, Bernard, 1992. "Où en est le programme de recherche néo-classique?," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 68(4), pages 564-586, décembre.
    8. John Quah, 2001. "Comparative Statics of the Weak Axiom," Economics Papers 2001-W3, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    9. W D A Bryant, 2009. "General Equilibrium:Theory and Evidence," World Scientific Books, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., number 6875, August.
    10. Donald J. Brown & Caterina Calsamiglia, 2007. "Marshall's Theory of Value and the Strong Law of Demand," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1615, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    11. Brighi, Luigi, 2004. "A stronger criterion for the Weak Weak Axiom," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1-2), pages 93-103, February.
    12. Jean-Michel Grandmont & Alan Kirman, 1996. "Aggregation, Learning and Rationality," International Economic Association Series, in: Beth Allen (ed.), Economics in a Changing World, chapter 3, pages 63-89, Palgrave Macmillan.
    13. Michael Jerison, 2001. "Demand Dispersion, Metonymy and Ideal Panel Data," Discussion Papers 01-11, University at Albany, SUNY, Department of Economics.
    14. Sebastiaan Maes & Raghav Malhotra, 2023. "Robust Hicksian Welfare Analysis under Individual Heterogeneity," Papers 2303.01231, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2023.
    15. Gaël Giraud & Isabelle Maret, 2007. "The Exact Insensitivity of Market Budget Shares and the "Balancing Effect"," Working Papers halshs-00155753, HAL.
    16. Paul Oslington, 2012. "General Equilibrium: Theory and Evidence," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 88(282), pages 446-448, September.
    17. Philippe Mongin, 2005. "On the Confirmation of the Law of Demand," Working Papers hal-00242978, HAL.
    18. INOSE Junya, 2014. "Representative Agent in a Form of Probability Distribution," Discussion papers 14038, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    19. Donald J. Brown & Caterina Calsamiglia, 2014. "Alfred Marshall’s cardinal theory of value: the strong law of demand," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 2(1), pages 65-76, April.
    20. YOSHIKAWA Hiroshi & ARATA Yoshiyuki, 2023. "A Reconsideration of Microeconomic Foundations of Macroeconomics," Discussion papers 23079, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Law of Demand and other properties of consumer demand; Microeconomics; Consumer theory; Consumer behaviour; Choice described in random terms; Expected individual and market demand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C60 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - General
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0396. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jessica Oscarsson (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/naiguse.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.