In: Economics
A young connoisseur has $600 to spend to build a small wine cellar. She enjoys two vintages in particular: a 2001 French Bordeaux (F) at $40 per bottle and a less expensive 2005 California varietal wine (C) priced at $8 per bottle. Her utility is ?(?, ?) = ? 2/3? 1/3 . a. What is her expenditure function? b. What are the required expenditures to reach the maximized utility level under the original prices?
U(WF, WC) = WF2/3WC1/3
The Lagrangian condition is
L = WF2/3WC1/3 + l(I- pFWF -pCWC)
Taking first order conditions yields
WF = 2/3(WF-1/3WC1/3) - l pF = 0
WC = 1/3(WF2/3WC-2/3) - l pC = 0
Wl = I - pFWF - pCWC = 0
Taking the ratio of the first two expressions
2/3(WF-1/3WC1/3) = l pF
1/3(WF2/3WC-2/3) l pC
Simplifying
2 WC/WF = pF/pC
Thus, 2pcWC = pFWF .
Substituting into the budget constraint
Now, with our parameters,
600 = 3(8)WC So Wc = 600/24 = 25
and
40WF = 2(8)(25)
So WF = 10.
(To check notice, that $40*10 + $8*25 = $600)
I = 2pcWC + pcWC = 3 pcWC