微观经济学（黄新飞）chapter 5 demand and consumer behavior.pdfVIP

Chapter 5 Demand And Consumer Behavior Huang Xinfei International Business School Sun－Yat Sen University Consumer Choice The concept of individual choice is one of the most important in economics. In fact, the great economist Stanley Jevons once said:  “The theory of economics must begin with a correct theory of consumption.” 2 Utility Theory  Economists believe that, for the most part, we do what we do and we buy what we buy because it makes us feel good. Utility denotes satisfaction. More precisely, it refers to how consumers rank different goods and services.  In the theory of demand, we say that people maximize their utility , which means that they choose the bundle of consumption goods that they most prefer. 3 Revolution of Marginal Utility William S. Jevons Léon Walras Carl Menger 1835-1882 1834-1910 1840-1921 4 Pleasure, Price, And Income Using this simple theory of self interest, consumer choice boils down to three things: the pleasure people get from consuming a good the price they have to pay for it and the income or budget available to them to exercise their choices 5 History of Utility Theory  Daniel Bernoulli (伯努利), a member of a brilliant Swiss mathematicians, observed in 1738 that people act as if the dollar they stand to gain in a fair bet (赌) is wort