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24. Let's explore one of the reasons that Cobb-Douglas utility functions are oftentimes used in economic research. Assume we are studying an individual's preferences over

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24. Let's explore one of the reasons that Cobb-Douglas utility functions are oftentimes used in economic research. Assume we are studying an individual's preferences over food if] and clothing {c}. Cine of the more realistic features of Cobb-Douglas ulity Functions is that they represent preferences consistent with the following: ' If an individual has small amounts of each good, in order to give up one unit of the good she has less of, she needs more of the other good. For instance, if an individual has 2 units of food and 5 units of clothing, she would need more than i unit of clothing to be willing to trade l unit of food. ' If an individual has large amounts of each good, she views the goods essentially as perfect substitutes. Using the foodfclothing example, she would be willing to trade food and clothing on an essentially constant basis if she has enough of each. Let's assume an individual's specific Cobb-Douglas utility function is U{f,c) =f1r3c2r3 and analytically explore this result. A. B. C. Determine how much clothing the individual would be willing to trade for one unit of food at any f and c level [in other words, solve for the Marginal Rate of Substitution}. Assume that the individual olwo ys has i fewer units of food compared to clothing. In other words, f=c-l . This will ensure we are looking at comparable bundles. Using this assumption, how will the MRS solved for in part [i1 change as the level of clothing [and therefore level of food] increases? 1'II'lva"'hat will the MRS you solved for in part {i} converge to as E -" 1? Note this is equivalent to finding how much clothing the individual would be willing to trade for one unit of food when the individual essentially has no food. 1'Inf'uihat will the MRS you solved for in part [ii converge to as l'.' l' 00 if Note this is equivalent to finding howr much clothing the individual would be willing to trade for one unit of food when the individual has an extremely large amount of clothing and food. If you are not comfortable with limits, plug in increasingly larger values of c to see the pattern

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