Subject. The article considers weakly cardinal properties of the generalized individual consumer surplus on the simple exchange economy (Edgeworth box) case. Objectives. The aim is to find the new weakly cardinal properties of individual consumer surplus in the Edgeworth box economy in the quasilinear case and in the general case. Methods. The study draws on methods of logical and mathematical analysis. The generalized consumer surplus theory is investigated using the mathematical theory of the curve integrals of the second type. Results. Individual surplus generates money metric utility function with unitary marginal utility of numeraire in the Edgeworth box. The paper gives the definition of consumer surplus’ path-independence property, proves the theorem that path-independent consumer surplus is equivalent to the existence of consumer’s quasilinear preferences in a simple exchange economy, presents the characterization of general case of consumer surplus in the Edgeworth box, and provides general taxonomy of trejectories (adjustment paths) in the Edgewoth box. Conclusions. The generalized individual consumer surplus generates money metric utility function along monotone (weakly monotone) trajectories in the Edgeworth box. If consumer is a buyer of the first good, I again demonstrate that consumer surplus is presented as an area between the reservation price function and the reallocation line (curve).
Keywords: consumer surplus, Edgeworth box, path independence, utility function
References:
Dupuit J. On the Measurement of Public Works. In: Kenneth J. Arrow and Tibor Scitovsky (Eds) Readings in Welfare Economics. Homewood, 1969, pp. 255–283.
Moskal'onov S.A. [Marshallian Consumer Surplus and Modern Neoclassical Theory of Social Welfare]. Izvestiya vysshikh uchebnykh zavedenii. Povolzhskii region. Obshchestvennye nauki = University Proceedings. Volga Region. Social Sciences, 2007, no. 1, pp. 53–62. URL: Link (In Russ.)
Marshall A. Principles of Economics, vol. I. London and New York, Macmillan and Co., 1890, 754 p.
Samuelson P.A. Constancy of the Marginal Utility of Income. In: Oscar Lange et al. (Eds) Studies in Mathematical Economics and Econometrics. In Memory of Henry Schultz. Chicago, 1942, pp. 75–91.
Hicks J.R. The Foundations of Welfare Economics. The Economic Journal, 1939, vol. 49, iss. 196, pp. 696–712. URL: Link
Hicks J.R. Consumers’ Surplus and Index-Numbers. The Review of Economic Studies, 1942, vol. 9, iss. 2, pp. 126–137. URL: Link
Chipman J.S., Moore J. The Scope of Consumer’ Surplus Arguments. In: A.M. Tang et al. (Eds). Evolution, Welfare and Time in Economics: Essays in Honor of Nikolas Reorgescu-Roegen. Lexington, Health-Lexington Books, 1976, pp. 69–123.
Chipman J.S., Moore J. Compensating Variation, Consumer’s Surplus, and Welfare. The American Economic Review, 1980, vol. 70, iss. 5, pp. 933–949. URL: Link
Slivinski A. The Normative Characterization of Aggregate Consumers’ Surplus Measures. International Economic Review, 1987, vol. 28, iss. 3, pp. 559–581. URL: Link
Blackorby C., Donaldson D. Market Demand Curves and Dupuit-Marshall Consumers’ Surpluses: A General Equilibrium Analysis. Mathematical Social Sciences, 1999, vol. 37, iss. 2, pp. 139–163. URL: Link00022-5
Moskal'onov S.A. [Individual consumer surplus in the Edgeworth Box]. Ekonomicheskii analiz: teoriya i praktika = Economic Analysis: Theory and Practice, 2021, vol. 20, iss. 11, pp. 2151–2167. (In Russ.) URL: Link
Silberberg E. Duality and the Many Consumer’s Surpluses. The American Economic Review, 1972, vol. 62, iss. 5, pp. 942–952. URL: Link
Burns M.E. A Note on the Concept and Measure of Consumer’s Surplus. The American Economic Review, 1973, vol. 63, no. 3, pp. 335–344. URL: Link
Zajac E.E. Dupuit-Marshall Consumers’ Surplus, Utility, and Revealed Preference. Journal of Economic Theory, 1979, vol. 20, iss. 2, pp. 260-270. URL: Link90074-7
Stahl D.O. A Note on the Consumer Surplus Path-of-Integration Problem. Economica, 1983, vol. 50, iss. 197, pp. 95-98. URL: Link