Indifferencekäyrät

Indifference curves are a graphical representation used in microeconomics to depict the preferences of a consumer. Each curve shows a set of consumption bundles that provide a consumer with the same level of utility or satisfaction. This means that a consumer is indifferent between any two points lying on the same indifference curve.

Indifference curves typically slope downwards from left to right, indicating that to maintain the same level of satisfaction, consuming more of one good requires consuming less of another. They are also convex to the origin, reflecting the principle of diminishing marginal rate of substitution. This means that as a consumer acquires more of one good, they are willing to give up progressively smaller amounts of another good to obtain an additional unit of the first.

The further an indifference curve is from the origin, the higher the level of utility it represents. Indifference curves cannot intersect each other. If they did, it would imply that a single consumption bundle provides two different levels of utility, which is a contradiction. Indifference curves are a fundamental tool for analyzing consumer choice and understanding how consumers allocate their limited resources to maximize their satisfaction.