law of diminishing marginal returns

The Law of Diminishing

Marginal Utility-Swati Navriya

B.Sc.,(Commercial Agriculture and Business management)

College of Agriculture , Rajendranagar

Prof. Jayshankar Telangana State Agriculture University

06-11-2014 1©[email protected]

Utility is a measure of satisfaction, referring to the total satisfaction received by a consumer from consuming a good or serviceUtility measures the want-satisfying power of a good or service(usefulness)MarginalityThe term marginal refers to a small change, starting from some baseline level.Marginal Utility of a good or service is the utilitygained from an increase, or lost by a decrease, in the consumption of that good or service.Marginal utility is the additional or incremental satisfaction (utility) a consumer receives from acquiring one additional unit of a product.

Introduction


The law of diminishing marginal utility states that

‘as a consumer consumes more and more

units of a specific commodity,

utility from the successive units

goes on diminishing’.

• Mr. H. Gossen, a German economist, was the first to explain this Law in 1854.

• Alfred Marshall later on restated this Law as follows:

“The additional benefit which a person derives from an increase of his stock of a thing diminishes with every increase in the stock that he already has”.

Definitionof Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility


Explanation and Exampleof Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility:Suppose, a man is very thirsty. He goes to the market and buys one glass of sweet water. The glass of water gives him immense pleasure or we say the first glass of water has great utility for him.

If he takes second glass of water after that, the utility will be less than that of the first one

If he drinks 3rd glass of water the utility declines again and so on….


Units Total Utility Marginal Utility

1st glass 20 202nd glass 32 123rd glass 40 84th glass 42 25th glass 42 06th glass 39 -3

Schedule of Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility

From the above table, it is clear that in a given span of time, the first glass of water to a thirsty man gives 20 units of utility. When he takes second glass of water, the marginal utility goes on down to 12 units; When he consumes fifth glass of water, the marginal utility drops down to zero and if the consumption of water is forced further from this point, the utility changes into disutility (-3).


Curve/Diagramof Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility:

In the figure (2.2), along OX we measure units of a commodity consumed and along OY is shown the marginal utility derived from them. The marginal utility of the first glass of water is called initial utility. It is equal to 20 units. The MU of the 5th glass of water is zero. It is called satiety point. The MU of the 6th glass of water is negative (-3). The MU curve here lies below the OX axis. The utility curve MM/ falls left from left down to the right showing that the marginal utility of the success units of glasses of water is falling.06-11-2014 6©[email protected]

Assumptionsof Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility

The law is true under certain assumptions as follows:

(i) Rationality: The consumer aims at maximization of utility subject to availability of his income.

(ii) Constant marginal utility of money: The marginal utility of money based for purchasing goods remains constant.

(iii) Diminishing marginal utility: The utility gained from the successive units of a commodity diminishes in a given time period.

(iv)Utility is additive: The utilities of different commodities are independent.


(v) Consumption to be

continuous

(vi) Suitable Reasonable

quantity: If the units are

too small, then the

marginal utility instead of

falling may increase up to

a few units.

(vii) Character of the

consumer does not

change.

(viii) No change to fashion,

Customs and Tastes.

• (ix) No change in the price

of the commodity.


Practical Importanceof Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility

(a) Diversification in Production: To overcome the resistance of the consumers towards using the same kind of good and in order to secure higher profits, the producers continuously introduce newer varieties of the products with new design, shape, colour, technique and presentation.

(b) Household Expenditure: Since larger purchases reduce marginal utility, we restrict the purchase of a particular commodity. We stop further purchases at a point, where marginal utility equals price.


(c) Pattern of Public Expenditure: The public

expenditure should be planned in such a

manner that more is spent for the benefit of

the poor. The law of diminishing marginal

utility provides justification of the socialist

plea for an equitable distribution of wealth.

(d) Basis for Progressive Taxation: Progressive

taxation results when the rate of taxation

increases with an increase in income of the

consumer. As the rich have lower marginal

utility of money as compared to the poor

people due to greater stock of money, they

should be taxed at a higher rate.06-11-2014 10©[email protected]

Limitations/Exceptionsof Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility

(i) Case of intoxicants: The more a person drinks liquor, the more s/he likes it.

(ii) Rare collection: If there are only two diamonds in the world, the possession of 2nd diamond will push up the marginal utility.

(iii) Application to money: It is true that more money the man has, the greedier he is to get additional units of it. However, the truth is that the marginal utility of money declines with richness but never falls to zero.

Conclusion• we can say that the law of diminishing utility, like other

laws of Economics, is simply a statement of tendency. It holds good, provided other factors remain constant.


law of diminishing marginal returns

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