BENCHMARK TWO-GOOD UTILITY FUNCTIONS

Benchmark two-good utility functions involving a good with zero income elasticity and unit income elasticity are familiar. In this paper we derive utility functions for the additional benchmark cases where one good has zero cross-price elasticity, unit own-price elasticity and zero own-price elasticity. It is shown how each of these utility functions arises from a simple graphical construction based on a single given indifference curve. Also, it is shown that possessors of such utility functions may be seen as thinking in a particular sense of their utility, and may be seen as using simple rules of thumb to determine their demand. Copyright © 2008 The Author; Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and The University of Manchester.