Essay

The Uniqueness of Utility Measurement in a Specific Preference Model

In most standard economic models of consumer choice, it is only meaningful to say that a consumer prefers one bundle of goods to another (an ordinal ranking). However, for a specific class of preferences where a consumer's willingness to trade one good for another depends only on the quantity of the first good they possess, it becomes possible to state how much more they prefer one bundle over another in concrete units (e.g., 'by $5'). Analyze why this quantitative measurement of utility difference is possible under these specific preferences, while it is not generally possible for other types of preferences. In your answer, describe the key characteristic of the indifference curves that permits this measurement.

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Updated 2025-08-08

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