Econometrica Vol. 2 No. 2 1934
A Comparison Between Different Definitions of Complementary and Competitive Goods
Abstract
THE relationship between a given pair of consumers' goods can assume various forms in an individual's scale of preferences. It is usual, however, to allot the pair of goods to one or other of two main classes, the classes of complementary and of competitive goods. A number of criteria or definitions of the distinction between complementary and competitive goods have been suggested, and of these the most precise, from the mathematical standpoint, are the simple criterion first put forward by Edgeworth and Pareto and the more complicated one given in a recent paper by the present author.' The object of these notes is to examine further both these definitions and, in particular, to discover what connection there is between them. The definition of complementary and competitive goods given by Edgeworth and Pareto assumes the existence of a total utility function which gives, for the individual under consideration, the utility of any combination (x, y, z, ) of the set of consumers' goods X, Y, Z, * , appearing in his scale of preferences. Denoting this function by u =4(x, y, z, ... ), the relation between any pair of goods X and Y de-
- DOI
- 10.2307/1906899
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 168
- Sources
- openalex crossref