indifference curve
- noun
- /ˌɪndɪˈfɛrəns kɜrv/
- Specialized
:
curva de indiferencia
- An indifference curve illustrates the combinations of goods that provide a consumer with the same level of satisfaction.
- indifference curve analysis
Examples
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This contract is below the indifference curve for the high risk guys, but it's above the indifference curve for the low risk guys.
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A well-known application of indifference curve analysis employs observed price and quantity data for two or more substitutable products, or two or more places or time periods, to derive a demand schedule.
Academic text (2001) -
OK, So we cannot have these indifference curves crossing one another.
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This application of indifference curve analysis can prove to be particularly useful in the study of market transformation.
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For employing indifference curve analysis, this rate must be neither zero nor constant.
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So it's a kind of l-shaped indifference curve, right?
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This is because indifference curve analysis applies to situations when decision makers will, on the margin, exchange one product for the other based on their relative prices.
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Being related to each other but not perfect substitutes, energy-efficient goods that are sold alongside similar, less efficient goods are ideal subjects for indifference curve analysis.
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The curves I (Beta 1), I (Beta 2), and I (Beta 3) are three indifference curves indexed by the parameter Beta.
Academic text (1991) -
To understand consumer choices, we often use an indifference curve to represent different product combinations that yield equal utility.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The term literally combines 'indifference' and 'curve', so a learner who knows both words may guess it denotes a curve related to indifference. However, the precise economic sense—a graph of combinations of goods that a consumer values equally—is a technical concept not fully derivable from the constituents at B1 level (though many languages use a direct calque), so prior domain knowledge is needed.
Etymology
Indifference curve comes from a simple picture: a smooth curve drawn on a graph that links all the combinations of goods a person likes the same. Because every point on that curve makes the person 'indifferent' between those choices, it means a line showing combinations a consumer values equally.
