To the Question of Giffen's Parafox

Abstract

The article is devoted to the construction and analysis of the simplest mathematical model illustrating the Giffen’s effect and the reasons and conditions for its manifestation. We analyse erroneous, but widely spread, ideas about Giffen’s goods as a good, the demand for which grows due to its relative cheapening against the rising prices for all consumed goods. Under the model it is shown that any good can be both valuable and of little value, at least if it has a more expensive substitute. This property is not an intrinsic and inalienable property of one or another good. The certain property is given to any good by a specific consumer due to its personal preferences and under the influence of existing prices. Inferior good, including such, the consumption of which is available only to an individual with a high level of income, may turn out to be a product of Giffen. Therefore, the consumption of Giffen goods cannot be considered as evidence of a low standard of living for the consumer. Because of the solution of the standard task on the consumer choice, it is shown that the increase in demand for an inferior good when its price is growing, which is the essence of the Giffen paradox, is the result of optim. It is shown that for the manifestation of the Giffen effect it is necessary that the amount of funds allocated by the consumer for acquiring low value good and its more expensive substitute gets into a certain rather narrow range of values.