Substitution effect

The substitution effect is the effect observed with changes in relative price of
goods.

These curves can be used to predict the effect of changes to the budget constraint.
The graphic below shows the effect of a price increase for good Y. If the price of Y
increases, the budget constraint will pivot from BC2 to BC1. Notice that because the
price of X does not change, the consumer can still buy the same amount of X if he
or she chooses to buy only good X. On the other hand, if the consumer chooses to
buy only good Y, he or she will be able to buy less of good Y because its price has

increased.

To maximize the utility with the reduced budget constraint, BC1, the consumer will
re-allocate consumption to reach the highest available indifference curve which BC1
is tangent to. As shown on the diagram below, that curve is I1, and therefore the
amount of good Y bought will shift from Y2 to Y1, and the amount of good X bought
to shift from X2 to X1. The opposite effect will occur if the price of Y decreases
causing the shift from BC2 to BC3, and I2 to I3.
If these curves are plotted for many different prices of good Y, a demand curve for
good Y can be constructed. The diagram below shows the demand curve for good Y
as its price varies. Alternatively, if the price for good Y is fixed and the price for
good X is varied, a demand curve for good X can be constructed.

Income effect
Another important item that can change is the money income of the consumer. The
income effect is the phenomenon observed through changes in purchasing power. It
reveals the change in quantity demanded brought by a change in real income
(utility). Graphically, as long as the prices remain constant, changing the income
will create a parallel shift of the budget constraint. Increasing the income will shift
the budget constraint right since more of both can be bought, and decreasing
income will shift it left.

Depending on the indifference curves the amount of a good bought can either
increase, decrease or stay the same when income increases. In the diagram below,
good Y is a normal good since the amount purchased increased as the budget
constraint shifted from BC1 to the higher income BC2. Good X is an inferior good
since the amount bought decreased as the income increases.

is the change in the demand for good 1 when we change income from m' to
m, holding the price of good 1 fixed at p1':
Price effect as sum of substitution and income effects
Every price change can be decomposed into an income effect and a substitution
effect; the price effect is the sum of substitution and income effects.

The substitution effect is a price change that alters the slope of the budget
constraint but leaves the consumer on the same indifference curve. In other words,
it illustrates the consumer's new consumption basket after the price change while
being compensated as to allow the consumer to be as happy as previously. By this
effect, the consumer is posited to substitute toward the good that becomes
comparatively less expensive. In the illustration below this corresponds to an
imaginary budget constraint denoted SC being tangent to the indifference curve I1.

If the good in question is a normal good, then the income effect from the rise in
purchasing power from a price fall reinforces the substitution effect. If the good is
an inferior good, then the income effect will offset in some degree the substitution
effect. If the income effect for an inferior good is sufficiently strong, the consumer
will buy less of the good when it becomes less expensive, a Giffen good (commonly
believed to be a rarity).

In the figure, the substitution effect, , is the change in the amount demanded

for when the price of good falls from to (increasing purchasing power for
) and, at the same time, the money income falls from m to m' to keep the consumer

at the same level of utility on :

The substitution effect increases the amount demanded of good from to . In

the example, the income effect of the price fall in partly offsets the substitution

effect as the amount demanded of goes from to . Thus, the price effect is the
algebraic sum of the substitution effect and the income effect.