Samanhyötykäyrät

Samanhyötykäyrät, also known as indifference curves, are a graphical representation used in microeconomics to illustrate the concept of consumer preferences. They show combinations of two goods that provide a consumer with the same level of utility or satisfaction. Each point on a single samanhyötykäyrä represents an identical level of well-being for the consumer.

These curves are typically downward sloping, indicating that to maintain the same level of utility, a consumer must give up some amount of one good if they consume more of the other. They are also convex to the origin, reflecting the principle of diminishing marginal rate of substitution. This means that as a consumer has more of one good, they are willing to give up progressively less of the other good to obtain an additional unit of the first.

A map of multiple samanhyötykäyrät, known as an indifference map, depicts a consumer's entire preference structure. Curves that are further from the origin represent higher levels of utility, as consumers generally prefer more of any good. The ordering of these curves is ordinal, meaning it shows which combination is preferred over another, but not by how much. Samanhyötykäyrät are a fundamental tool in analyzing consumer choice, budget constraints, and the derivation of demand curves.