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EC311 · Intermediate Microeconomics

EC311 / TOPIC 06

3.2 Slutsky: preserve affordability

What does Slutsky preserve at the compensated point?

Price the old bundle at new prices to isolate substitution before restoring actual purchasing power.

Follow the cause and effect

  1. Solve bundle A at original prices and income.

  2. Calculate mS=p′·A and solve compensated bundle C.

  3. Report A→C as substitution and C→B as income effect.

The model you are using

KEY MODEL
mS = m + (px′−px)x₀
Δx = [x(p′,mS)−x₀] + [x(p′,m)−x(p′,mS)]

Conditions for this model

Shared experiment: U=√(xy), m=120, py=6, px 12→6, no goods endowment and fixed preferences. Practice uses the separate setup in step 5.

The exam trap

Point C is an analytical comparison, not a chronological event between A and B.

Connect the reasoning to the graph

What changes

  • The Slutsky budget has the new slope and passes through A, though C may lie on another utility curve.

What stays fixed

Shared experiment: U=√(xy), m=120, py=6, px 12→6, no goods endowment and fixed preferences. Practice uses the separate setup in step 5.

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

What to inspect

Report A→C as substitution and C→B as income effect.

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

5 MINUTES · TRANSFER THE IDEA

Can you explain it without the lesson?

Construct a Slutsky decomposition for a rise in px and check the sign of x substitution.

Lesson references

  • Varian, Intermediate Microeconomics, 8th ed., pp. 137–140, 153–155 (PDF pp. 163–166, 179–181); original numerical decompositions
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