Elasticity of substitution

Elasticity of substitution is the elasticity of the ratio of two inputs to a production (or utility) function with respect to the ratio of their marginal products (or utilities).[1] It measures the curvature of an isoquant and thus, the substitutability between inputs (or goods), i.e. how easy it is to substitute one input (or good) for the other.[2] In the modern period, John Hicks is considered to have formally introduced this concept in 1932, however he had, by his own admission, introduced the inverse of the elasticity of substitution, or the elasticity of complementarity. The credit then, also by Hicks' own admission, should go to Joan Robinson.

Mathematical definition

Let the utility over consumption be given by U(c_1,c_2). Then the elasticity of substitution is:

 E_{21} =\frac{d \ln (c_2/c_1) }{d \ln (MRS_{12})}
          =\frac{d \ln (c_2/c_1) }{d \ln (U_{c_1}/U_{c_2})}
          =\frac{\frac{d (c_2/c_1) }{c_2/c_1}}{\frac{d (U_{c_1}/U_{c_2})}{U_{c_1}/U_{c_2}}}
          =\frac{\frac{d (c_2/c_1) }{c_2/c_1}}{\frac{d (p_1/p_2)}{p_1/p_2}}

where MRS is the marginal rate of substitution. The last equality presents MRS_{12} = p_1/p_2 which is a relationship from the first order condition for a consumer utility maximization problem in Arrow-Debreu interior equilibrium. Intuitively we are looking at how a consumer's relative choices over consumption items change as their relative prices change.

Note also that  E_{21} = E_{12}:

 E_{21} =\frac{d \ln (c_2/c_1) }{d \ln (U_{c_1}/U_{c_2})}
               =\frac{d \left(-\ln (c_1/c_2)\right) }{d \left(-\ln (U_{c_2}/U_{c_1})\right)}
               =\frac{d \ln (c_1/c_2) }{d \ln (U_{c_2}/U_{c_1})}
               = E_{12}

An equivalent characterization of the elasticity of substitution is:[3]

 E_{21} =\frac{d \ln (c_2/c_1) }{d \ln (MRS_{12})}
          =-\frac{d \ln (c_2/c_1) }{d \ln (MRS_{21})}
          =-\frac{d \ln (c_2/c_1) }{d \ln (U_{c_2}/U_{c_1})}
          =-\frac{\frac{d (c_2/c_1) }{c_2/c_1}}{\frac{d (U_{c_2}/U_{c_1})}{U_{c_2}/U_{c_1}}}
          =-\frac{\frac{d (c_2/c_1) }{c_2/c_1}}{\frac{d (p_2/p_1)}{p_2/p_1}}

In discrete-time models, the elasticity of substitution of consumption in periods t and t+1 is known as elasticity of intertemporal substitution.

Similarly, if the production function is f(x_1,x_2) then the elasticity of substitution is:

 \sigma_{21} =\frac{d \ln (x_2/x_1) }{d \ln MRTS_{12}}
           =\frac{d \ln (x_2/x_1) }{d \ln (\frac{df}{dx_1}/\frac{df}{dx_2})}
          =\frac{\frac{d (x_2/x_1) }{x_2/x_1}}{\frac{d (\frac{df}{dx_1}/\frac{df}{dx_2})}{\frac{df}{dx_1}/\frac{df}{dx_2}}}
          =-\frac{\frac{d (x_2/x_1) }{x_2/x_1}}{\frac{d (\frac{df}{dx_2}/\frac{df}{dx_1})}{\frac{df}{dx_2}/\frac{df}{dx_1}}}

where MRTS is the marginal rate of technical substitution.

The inverse of elasticity of substitution is elasticity of complementarity.

Example

Consider Cobb–Douglas production function f(x_1,x_2)=x_1^a x_2^{1-a}.

The marginal rate of technical substitution is

MRTS_{12} = \frac{a}{1-a} \frac{x_2}{x_1}

It is convenient to change the notations. Denote

\frac{a}{1-a} \frac{x_2}{x_1}=\theta

Rewriting this we have

\frac{x_2}{x_1} = \frac{1-a}{a}\theta

Then the elasticity of substitution is

\sigma_{21}  =  \frac{d \ln (\frac{x_2}{x_1}) }{d \ln MRTS_{12}} = 
                  \frac{d \ln (\frac{x_2}{x_1}) }{d \ln (\frac{a}{1-a} \frac{x_2}{x_1})} =
                    \frac{d \ln (\frac{1-a}{a}\theta) }{d \ln (\theta)} =  
                      \frac{d \frac{1-a}{a}\theta}{d \theta} \frac{\theta}{\frac{1-a}{a}\theta}=1

Economic interpretation

Given an original allocation/combination and a specific substitution on allocation/combination for the original one, the larger the magnitude of the elasticity of substitution (the marginal rate of substitution elasticity of the relative allocation) means the more likely to substitute. There are always 2 sides to the market; here we are talking about the receiver, since the elasticity of preference is that of the receiver.

The elasticity of substitution also governs how the relative expenditure on goods or factor inputs changes as relative prices change. Let S_{21} denote expenditure on c_2 relative to that on c_1. That is:

 S_{21} \equiv \frac{p_2 c_2}{p_1 c_1}

As the relative price p_2/p_1 changes, relative expenditure changes according to:

 \frac{dS_{21}}{d\left(p_2/p_1\right)} = \frac{c_2}{c_1} + \frac{p_2}{p_1}\cdot\frac{d\left(c_2/c_1\right)}{d\left(p_2/p_1\right)}
                   = \frac{c_2}{c_1}\left[1 + \frac{d\left(c_2/c_1\right)}{d\left(p_2/p_1\right)}\cdot\frac{p_2/p_1}{c_2/c_1} \right]
                   = \frac{c_2}{c_1}\left(1 - E_{21} \right)

Thus, whether or not an increase in the relative price of c_2 leads to an increase or decrease in the relative expenditure on c_2 depends on whether the elasticity of substitution is less than or greater than one.

Intuitively, the direct effect of a rise in the relative price of c_2 is to increase expenditure on c_2, since a given quantity of c_2 is more costly. On the other hand, assuming the goods in question are not Giffen goods, a rise in the relative price of c_2 leads to a fall in relative demand for c_2, so that the quantity of c_2 purchased falls, which reduces expenditure on c_2.

Which of these effects dominates depends on the magnitude of the elasticity of substitution. When the elasticity of substitution is less than one, the first effect dominates: relative demand for c_2 falls, but by proportionally less than the rise in its relative price, so that relative expenditure rises. In this case, the goods are gross complements.

Conversely, when the elasticity of substitution is greater than one, the second effect dominates: the reduction in relative quantity exceeds the increase in relative price, so that relative expenditure on c_2 falls. In this case, the goods are gross substitutes.

Note that when the elasticity of substitution is exactly one (as in the Cobb–Douglas case), expenditure on c_2 relative to c_1 is independent of the relative prices.

See also

Notes

  1. Sydsaeter, Knut; Hammond, Peter (1995). Mathematics for Economic Analysis. Prentice Hall. pp. 561–562.
  2. Technically speaking, curvature and elasticity are unrelated, but isoquants with different elasticities take on different shapes that might appear to differ in a general sense of curvature (see de La Grandville, Olivier (1997). "Curvature and elasticity of substitution: Straightening it out". Journal of Economics 66 (1): 23–34. doi:10.1007/BF01231465.)
  3. Given that:
    \ \frac{d (x_2/x_1)}{x_2/x_1} = d\log (x_2/x_1) = d\log x_2 - d\log x_1 = - (d\log x_1 - d\log x_2) = - d\log (x_1/x_2) = - \frac{d (x_1/x_2)}{x_1/x_2}
    an equivalent way to define the elasticity of substitution is:
    \ \sigma =-\frac{d (c_1/c_2)}{d MRS}\frac{MRS}{c_1/c_2}=-\frac{d\log (c_1/c_2)}{d\log MRS}.

References

External links

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