Giffen good

(noun)

A good which people consume more of as only the price rises; Having a positive price elasticity of demand.

Related Terms

  • Derivation
  • Veblen good
  • normal good

Examples of Giffen good in the following topics:

  • Deriving the Demand Curve

    • Giffen goods and neutral goods break this rule, with the former demonstrating an increase in demand as a result of a price rise (see ) and the latter demonstrating indifference to price in regards to the quantity demanded (illustrated as a completely vertical demand curve):
    • Giffen Goods - Giffen goods are a situation where the income effect supersedes the substitution effect, creating an increase in demand despite a rise in price.
    • Neutral Goods - Neutral goods, unlike Giffen goods, demonstrate complete ambivalence to price.
    • Giffen goods are essentially goods that demonstrate an increase in demand as a result of an increase in price, generally considered counter-intuitive in traditional economic models.
    • This graph illustrates the derivation of a demand curve for these goods.
  • The Law of Demand

    • Though in general terms and specific to normal goods, demand will exhibit a downward slope, there are exceptions: Giffen goods and Veblen goods
    • A Giffen good describes an extreme case for an inferior good.
    • In theory, a Giffen good would display the characteristic that as price increases, demand for the product increases.
    • example of a Giffen good, though a popular albeit historically inaccurate example is the purchase of potatoes (an inferior good) as prices continued to increase during the Irish potato famine.
    • These goods are known as a Veblen goods.
  • Willingness to Pay and the Demand Curve

    • In general as the price of a good increases, the quantity demanded of that good decreases.
    • Giffen goods are another example where rising prices can lead to increased demand for a product.
    • Giffen goods are very rare and are defined by three characteristics:
    • It is an inferior good, or a good for which demand decreases as consumer income rises,
    • In this instance, bread is a giffen good.
  • Market Demand

    • The demand schedule represents the amount of some good that a buyer is willing and able to purchase at various prices.
    • In general, this means that the demand curve is downward-sloping, which means that as the price of a good decreases, consumers will buy more of that good.
    • A market demand schedule is a table that lists the quantity of a good all consumers in a market will buy at every different price.
    • However, special cases exist where the preference for the good or service may be perverse.
    • Two different hypothetical types of goods with upward-sloping demand curves are Giffen goods (an inferior but staple good) and Veblen goods (goods characterized as being more desirable the higher the price; luxury or status items).
  • Demand Function

    • In rare cases, under extreme conditions, a "Giffen good" may result in a positively sloped demand function.
    • These Giffen goods rarely occur.
    • An individual's demand function for a good (Good X) might be written:
    • Only in unusual circumstances (a highly inferior good, a Giffen good) may a demand function have a positive relationship.
    • A superior good is a special case of the normal good.
  • Defining Price Elasticity of Demand

    • The price elasticity of demand (PED) measures the change in demand for a good in response to a change in price.
    • The law of demand states that there is an inverse relationship between price and demand for a good.
    • Only goods that do not conform to the law of demand, such as Veblen and Giffen goods, have a positive PED.
    • The demand for a good is said to be elastic (or relatively elastic) when its PED is greater than one.
    • This means that demand for a good does not change in response to price .
  • Applications of Principles on Consumer Choices

    • In we are comparing 'Good X' and 'Good Y' to identify how a change in income will alter the overall amount of each good would likely be purchased along a series of indifference curves (see Boundless atom on 'Indifference Curves').
    • In the substitution effect, a lower purchasing power will generally result in a shift towards more affordable goods (substituting cheaper in place of more expensive goods) while a higher purchasing power often results in substituting more expensive goods for cheaper ones.
    • This translates to the graph above as the consumer makes choices to maximize utility when comparing the price of different goods to a given income level, substituting cheaper goods and more expensive goods dependent upon purchasing power.
    • Inversely, Giffen goods demonstrate a positive relationship, where the price rises will result in higher demand for the good and high consumption.
    • To apply this to the concept of different types of goods above, one can view wage rates and leisure time as consumer goods.
  • Demand for Public Goods

    • The aggregate demand for a public good is derived differently from the aggregate demand for private goods.
    • The marginal benefit of a public good diminishes as the level of the good provided increases.
    • Public goods are non-rivalrous, so everyone can consume each unit of a public good.
    • The aggregate demand for a public good is the sum of marginal benefits to each person at each quantity of the good provided .
    • Unlike public goods, society does not have to agree on a given quantity of a private good, and any one person can consume more of the private good than another at a given price.
  • Defining a Good

    • Private goods: Private goods are excludable and rival.
    • Common goods: Common goods are non-excludable and rival.
    • Club goods: Club goods are excludable but non-rival.
    • This type of good often requires a "membership" payment in order to enjoy the benefits of the goods.
    • Public goods: Public goods are non-excludable and non-rival.
  • Cross-Price Elasticity of Demand

    • For substitute goods, as the price of one good rises, the demand for the substitute good increases.
    • Conversely, the demand for a substitute good falls when the price of another good is decreased.
    • Two goods that complement each other have a negative cross elasticity of demand: as the price of good Y rises, the demand for good X falls.
    • Two goods that are substitutes have a positive cross elasticity of demand: as the price of good Y rises, the demand for good X rises.
    • Two goods that are independent have a zero cross elasticity of demand: as the price of good Y rises, the demand for good X stays constant.
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