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If precondition #1 is changed to "The goods in question must be so inferior that the income effect is greater than the substitution effect" then this list defines necessary and sufficient conditions. The last condition is a condition on the buyer rather than the goods itself, and thus the phenomenon is also called a "Giffen behavior".
The shift in consumer demand for an inferior good can be explained by two natural economic phenomena: The substitution effect and the income effect. These effects describe and validate the movement of the demand curve in (independent) response to increasing income and relative cost of other goods. [9]
The substitution effect is the change that would occur if the consumer were required to remain on the original indifference curve; this is the move from A to B. The income effect is the simultaneous move from B to C that occurs because the lower price of one good in fact allows movement to a higher indifference curve.
A Giffen good is a product in greater demand when the price increases, which is also a special case of inferior goods. [5] In the extreme case of income inferiority, the size of the income effect overpowers the size of the substitution effect, leading to a positive overall change in demand responding to an increase in the price.
Substitute goods are commodity which the consumer demanded to be used in place of another good. Economic theory describes two goods as being close substitutes if three conditions hold: [3] products have the same or similar performance characteristics; products have the same or similar occasion for use and; products are sold in the same ...
If the good is a Giffen good, the income effect is so strong that the Marshallian quantity demanded rises when the price rises. The Hicksian demand function isolates the substitution effect by supposing the consumer is compensated with exactly enough extra income after the price rise to purchase some bundle on the same indifference curve. [ 2 ]
If the good is an inferior good, then the income effect will offset in some degree the substitution effect. If the income effect for an inferior good is sufficiently strong, the consumer will buy less of the good when it becomes less expensive. This is also known as a Giffen good (commonly believed to be a rarity).
Substitution effect: The substitution effect is the change in the quantity demanded of a good or service due to a change in the relative prices of substitute goods. When the price of a good increases, consumers may shift their consumption to relatively cheaper substitute goods, causing the demand for the original good to decrease.