Utility maximization problem

Suppose their consumption set

.

.

The solution x(p, w) need not be unique. If u is continuous and no commodities are free of charge, then x(p, w) is nonempty. Proof: B(p, w) is a compact space. So if u is continuous, then the Weierstrass theorem implies that u(B(p, w)) is a compact subset of . By the Heine-Borel theorem, every compact set contains its maximum, so we can conclude that u(B(p, w)) has a maximum and hence there must be a package in B(p, w) that maps to this maximum.

If a consumer always picks an optimal package as defined above, then x(p, w) is called the Marshallian demand correspondence. If there is always a unique maximizer, then it is called the Marshallian demand function. The relationship between the utility function and Marshallian demand in the Utility Maximization Problem mirrors the relationship between the expenditure function and Hicksian demand in the Expenditure Minimization Problem.

In practice, a consumer may not always pick an optimal package. For example, it may require too much thought. Bounded rationality is a theory that explains this behaviour with satisficing - picking packages that are suboptimal but good enough.

See also