Modeling the Budget Constraint
An individual has 24 hours per day and can work for an hourly wage of $20. Let 'c' represent their total daily consumption and 't' represent their hours of free time.
- Write the mathematical inequality that describes the individual's entire set of affordable combinations of consumption and free time.
- Write the specific equation that describes the maximum possible consumption for any given amount of free time.
- In one or two sentences, explain the key assumption that allows an analyst to use the equation from part 2, rather than the inequality from part 1, when finding the individual's most preferred combination.
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CORE Econ
Economics
Social Science
Empirical Science
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Economy
Introduction to Microeconomics Course
The Economy 2.0 Microeconomics @ CORE Econ
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Figure 3.7a - Diagram of Karim's Optimal Choice at a €30 Wage
An individual's feasible combinations of daily consumption and free time are represented by all the points on and below a downward-sloping line. A core assumption in consumer theory is that 'more is better,' meaning an individual's satisfaction increases with more consumption and more free time. Given this assumption, why is it logical for an analyst to focus only on the combinations that fall exactly on the line when determining the individual's optimal choice?
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A combination of consumption and free time is considered 'feasible' only if it lies exactly on the line representing the budget constraint, where consumption equals the wage multiplied by hours worked.
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An individual's feasible set of choices for daily consumption (c) and free time (t) is described by the relationship c ≤ 15(24 - t). They are currently choosing to have 16 hours of free time and $100 of consumption. Assuming this individual always prefers more consumption to less for any given amount of free time, what can be concluded about their current choice?
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An economist is modeling the daily choices of an individual who earns a wage of $25 per hour. The individual has 24 hours available each day to allocate between free time (t) and work. The money earned is used for consumption (c). The model is based on the principle that the individual will always want more consumption for any given amount of free time, and more free time for any given amount of consumption. To find the single combination of free time and consumption that maximizes the individual's satisfaction, which mathematical expression should the economist use to represent the budget constraint?
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