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Only if the two products satisfy the three conditions, will they be classified as close substitutes according to economic theory. The opposite of a substitute good is a complementary good, these are goods that are dependent on another. An example of complementary goods are cereal and milk. An example of substitute goods are tea and coffee.
A submodular utility function is characteristic of substitute goods. For example, an apple and a bread loaf can be considered substitutes: the utility a person receives from eating an apple is smaller if he has already ate bread (and vice versa), since he is less hungry in that case. A typical utility function for this case is given at the right.
Examples of substitutes are meat, poultry, and fish; landlines and cellular telephones; airlines, automobiles, trains, and ships; beer and wine; and so on. For example, tap water is a substitute for Coke, but Pepsi is a product that uses the same technology (albeit different ingredients) to compete head-to-head with Coke, so it is not a substitute.
Cross elasticity of demand of product B with respect to product A (η BA): = / / = > implies two goods are substitutes.Consumers purchase more B when the price of A increases. Example: the cross elasticity of demand of butter with respect to margarine is 0.81, so 1% increase in the price of margarine will increase the demand for butter by 0.81
This definition is also known as the direct elasticity of substitution. The other economist was Joan Robinson, who defined elasticity of substitution as the change in proportion of the ratio of the number of factors used divided by the change in proportion of the ratio of each factor's prices. These two definitions function in the same way when ...
The substitution effect is the effect that a change in relative prices of substitute goods has on the quantity demanded. It due to a change in relative prices between two or more substitute goods. When the price of a commodity falls and prices of its substitutes remain unchanged, it becomes relatively cheaper in comparison to its substitutes.
Another example is that sometimes a toothbrush is packaged free with toothpaste. The toothbrush is a complement to the toothpaste; the cost of producing a toothbrush may be higher than toothpaste, but its sales depends on the demand of toothpaste. All non-complementary goods can be considered substitutes. [4]
In auction theory and competitive equilibrium theory, a valuation function is said to have the gross substitutes (GS) property if for all pairs of commodities: () (). I.e., the definition includes both substitute goods and independent goods , and only rules out complementary goods .