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If the payoff from outcome A is twice the payoff from outcome B, then the ratio of these

utilities will be

a. 2 to 1.
b. less than 2 to 1.
c. more than 2 to 1.
d. unknown without further information.

User Greg Ostry
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1 Answer

6 votes

Final answer:

Without more information about the relationship between payoff and utility for the outcomes, it is not possible to determine the ratio of utilities between two outcomes, even if one has twice the payoff of the other due to the potential diminishing marginal utility.

Step-by-step explanation:

If the payoff from outcome A is twice the payoff from outcome B, we might expect the ratio of their utilities to also be 2 to 1. However, this is not necessarily the case because utility does not always increase at the same rate as the payoff. The concept of marginal utility, which is the additional satisfaction or utility that a person receives from consuming an additional unit of a good or service, often diminishes as more of a good or service is consumed. This is known as diminishing marginal utility.

Therefore, if a person values outcome A twice as much monetarily, it does not mean that A provides twice the utility, unless the marginal utility of A is constant. If we were to follow the general rule that states the ratio of the prices of two goods should equal the ratio of the marginal utilities at the utility-maximizing point, we would need more information to determine the actual ratio of utilities between A and B. Without information about the relationship between payoff and utility for the outcomes, it is not possible to determine the ratio of utilities. Thus, the correct answer is (d) unknown without further information.

User Eilish
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