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Identical Optimal Work Hours Due to Quasi-Linear Preferences
The optimal number of work hours is identical across all scenarios—Angela as an independent farmer, and under contracts with Bruno (both coercion and choice)—because of a specific feature of her preferences. In the model, her Marginal Rate of Substitution (MRS) depends only on her hours of free time, not her grain consumption. This property, known as quasi-linearity, ensures the tangency point with the feasible frontier (where MRS=MRT) occurs at the same amount of free time, regardless of the indifference curve. This outcome would differ if her preferences were not quasi-linear.
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Ch.5 The rules of the game: Who gets what and why - The Economy 2.0 Microeconomics @ CORE Econ
The Economy 2.0 Microeconomics @ CORE Econ
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