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EC311 · Intermediate Microeconomics

EC311 / TOPIC 08

3.4 Inferior, Giffen and welfare measures

What additional condition makes an inferior good Giffen?

Giffen behavior requires an opposing income effect large enough to overturn substitution.

Follow the cause and effect

  1. Use the income-effect sign to classify normal or inferior.

  2. Add SE+IE to determine Marshallian demand direction.

  3. Use the expenditure function for money-metric welfare.

The model you are using

KEY MODEL
Δx = SE + IE
CV = e(p₁,U₀)−m
EV = m−e(p₀,U₁)

Conditions for this model

Money income is fixed and there is no goods endowment; the decomposition numbers are a hypothetical scenario.

The exam trap

Inferior does not mean Giffen, and downward demand does not prove a good is normal.

Connect the reasoning to the graph

What changes

  • Giffen demand slopes upward only where the income effect dominates substitution, not everywhere.

What stays fixed

Money income is fixed and there is no goods endowment; the decomposition numbers are a hypothetical scenario.

Keep these conditions throughout the comparison; change only what the case above specifies.

What to inspect

Use the expenditure function for money-metric welfare.

Compare before and after, and locate the conclusion on the graph.

5 MINUTES · TRANSFER THE IDEA

Can you explain it without the lesson?

For a price rise with SE=−3 and IE=+5, classify the good and state the total quantity effect.

Lesson references

  • Varian, Intermediate Microeconomics, 8th ed., pp. 96, 155
  • Varian, Intermediate Microeconomics, 8th ed., pp. 258–259
  • Original teaching decompositions
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