Marginalistinen

Marginalistinen is a Finnish adjective used to describe theories, analyses, or approaches grounded in marginalism, a school of thought in economics and related disciplines. In practice, marginalistinen analysis centers on marginal changes—the additional or incremental impact of small adjustments—such as marginal utility, marginal cost, or marginal revenue. The term is derived from the concept of margins and is closely associated with the marginal revolution of the late 19th century, which reframed value, price, and choice by focusing on the value of the next unit rather than total quantities.

In economics, a marginalistinen approach assumes that agents optimize at the margin and that market outcomes emerge from marginal comparisons, including consumers maximizing utility subject to a budget constraint and firms selecting production levels where marginal cost equals marginal revenue. This framework underpins neoclassical price theory, demand and supply analysis, and welfare economics, as it yields explanations for price formation, resource allocation, and efficiency conditions such as Pareto optimality under certain assumptions.

The term may also appear in Finnish discussions about methodological approaches that emphasize marginal analysis over other perspectives. Critics of marginalistinen economics point to potential overreliance on rational optimization, perfect information, and instantaneous adjustments, arguing that behavioral, institutional, or dynamic factors can alter marginal calculations.

In summary, marginalistinen denotes adherence to marginalist principles, highlighting the significance of marginal changes in determining value, choice, and equilibrium within economic analysis and allied fields.