Engel curve

Engel curve

In economics, an Engel curve shows how the quantity demanded of a good or service changes as the consumer's income level changes. It is named after the 19th century German statistician Ernst Engel.

Graphically, the Engel curve is represented in the first-quadrant of the cartesian coordinate system. Income is shown on the Y-axis and the quantity demanded for the selected good or service is shown on the X-axis.

For normal goods, the Engel curve has a positive slope. That is, as income increases, the quantity demanded increases. For inferior goods, the Engel curve has a negative slope. That means that as the consumer has more income, they will stop buying the inferior goods because they are able to purchase better goods. For goods with Marshallian demand function generated by a utility in Gorman polar form, the Engel curve has a constant slope.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Engel's law — is an observation in economics stating that, with a given set of tastes and preferences, as income rises, the proportion of income spent on food falls, even if actual expenditure on food rises. In other words, the income elasticity of demand of… …   Wikipedia

  • Engel, Ernst — ▪ German statistician born March 26, 1821, Dresden, Saxony [Germany] died Dec. 8, 1896, Radebeul, near Dresden       German statistician remembered for the “Engel curve,” or Engel s law, which states that the lower a family s income, the greater… …   Universalium

  • Ernst Engel — Born March 26, 1821(1821 03 26) …   Wikipedia

  • Scientific phenomena named after people — This is a list of scientific phenomena and concepts named after people (eponymous phenomena). For other lists of eponyms, see eponym. NOTOC A* Abderhalden ninhydrin reaction Emil Abderhalden * Abney effect, Abney s law of additivity William de… …   Wikipedia

  • List of curves — This is a list of curves, by Wikipedia page. See also list of curve topics, list of surfaces, Riemann surface. Algebraic curves*Cubic plane curve *Quartic plane curve *Quintic plane curve *Sextic plane curveRational curves*Ampersand curve… …   Wikipedia

  • Кривая Энгеля — (Engel curve) Кривая, показывающая величину расходов на товары в зависимости от роста дохода. Эта взаимосвязь была впервые проанализирована в XIX в. статистиком К. Л. Э. Энгелем (1821–1896). Закон Энгеля (Engel’s law) устанавливает, что доля… …   Словарь бизнес-терминов

  • CEV Leser — Dr. Conrad Emanuel Victor Leser was an German econometrician who lived from 1915 to 1998. He was born in Heidelberg. He studied in Switzerland and later at the London School of Economics after being forced to leave Germany because of his non… …   Wikipedia

  • ЗАКОН ЭНГЕЛЯ — (Engel’s law) См.: кривая Энгеля (Engel curve). Бизнес. Толковый словарь. М.: ИНФРА М , Издательство Весь Мир . Грэхэм Бетс, Барри Брайндли, С. Уильямс и др. Общая редакция: д.э.н. Осадчая И.М.. 1998 …   Словарь бизнес-терминов

  • David Ricardo — Classical economics Born 19 April 1772(1772 04 19) Died …   Wikipedia

  • Wealth elasticity of demand — in microeconomics is the relation of the proportional change in consumption of a good to a proportional change in wealth (as distinct from changes in personal income). Measuring and accounting for the variability in this elasticity is a… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”