utility function Quick reference
A Dictionary of Economics (5 ed.)
...utility function A function that can either be the actual evaluation of an individual’s utility or an economist’s convenient representation of an individual’s preferences . There is in principle no reason why an individual cannot evaluate the utility of different outcomes using a utility function. If they do, then the first interpretation applies. Note that ‘an individual’ can be broadly interpreted to include organizations, and an organization may employ a utility function to guide its decision-making. Economists employ utility functions as a convenient...
utility function Quick reference
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (6 ed.)
...utility function A function which defines the utility for the range of possible outcomes. If a probability distribution is known or can be estimated for those outcomes, then the expected utility can be...
utility function n. Quick reference
A Dictionary of Psychology (4 ed.)
... function n . A rule specifying the relation between quantities of money or of any commodity and an individual’s utility ( 1 ) . See also prospect theory...
utility function Reference library
Dictionary of the Social Sciences
... function A mathematical representation of consumer preferences for goods and services. Although there are no logical restrictions on the form of the function or its components, it is generally assumed that marginal utility decreases—that is, individuals derive less additional pleasure from each additional amount of a good consumed. This diminishing marginal utility implies that the utility function is concave and that individuals are risk averse ( see risk aversion...
indirect utility function Reference library
Dictionary of the Social Sciences
...utility function A function that expresses the utility (or well-being) derived from consumption, but as a function of prices and income rather than as a function of a bundle of goods actually consumed. Given prices and income, a consumer can optimally choose a consumption bundle. Substituting these optimal choices into the original utility function (expressed in terms of quantities of goods consumed) yields the indirect utility function...
indirect utility function Quick reference
A Dictionary of Economics (5 ed.)
...indirect utility function The maximum utility level a consumer can achieve expressed as a function of prices and income. Consider a consumer choosing the quantities x 1 and x 2 of two goods to maximize utility subject to a budget constraint. The utility maximization problem is max { x 1 , x 2 } U ( x 1 , x 2 ) subject to M = p 1 x 1 + p 2 x 2 . The solution is described by the two Marshallian demand functions x 1 = d 1 ( p 1 , p 2 , M ) and x 2 = d 2 ( p 1 , p 2 , M ). Substituting the optimal choices back into the utility function gives...
separable utility function Quick reference
A Dictionary of Economics (5 ed.)
...separable utility function A utility function is separable if it can be written in the form u = U ( v 1 ( x 1 ) , v 2 ( x 2 ) , … , v m ( x m ) ) where x 1 ,…, x m form a partition of the available products. (Assume three goods are available and denote the consumption of good i by x i , i = 1, 2, 3. Then x 1 = ( x 1 , x 2 ), x 2 = ( x 3 ) is an example of a partition.) The implication of separability is that the marginal rate of substitution between any two goods in x j is unaffected by the consumption level of any good not in x j . If a consumer...
social utility function Quick reference
A Dictionary of Media and Communication (3 ed.)
...utility function ( social integration function ) In relation to general types of use by individuals of the mass media , a single medium , a media genre , or specific media content , usage which strengthens an individual’s sense of belonging to a social group through sharing its norms , values , and beliefs, or strengthens their contact with others ( see also integration ; reference group ; ritual model ). It derives from a need of individuals for affiliation . Examples include using the mass media as conversational currency , going on a date...
utility function
indirect utility function
social utility function
separable utility function
Local Government Quick reference
R. W. Hoyle
The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History (2 ed.)
...often single‐tier; with the loss of financial independence from central government over the 20th century, the possibilities for local innovation have diminished. At the same time much of the pioneering work of 19th‐century local government in creating the infrastructure and utilities which we take for granted was no longer seen as appropriate for the public sector and was progressively placed in the hands of private corporations. The history of local government in its heroic days of urban poverty, destitution, and disease in industrializing society is now...
Psychology Reference library
An Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age
...we could discover by deliberate experiments of our own. So observation and experiment differ only nominally as ‘sources of knowledge’. Stewart goes on to reply to Jeffrey's claim that, because all people are familiar with the mental functions and abilities common to everyone, it is impossible for us to discover new functions as we can discover new chemical reactions. This conclusion, says Stewart, would apply with equal force to the sciences of matter. A person unfamiliar with *Newton 's third law of motion applies it when he pushes his canoe away from the...
Central Government, Courts, and Taxation Quick reference
R. W. Hoyle
The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History (2 ed.)
...taxes: 1377–81, 1524–5, 1664 , and the first extant land tax return. Moreover, the returns which do survive vary considerably in their utility. This is especially true of the Henrician lay subsidies. Where some had low qualifying thresholds for inclusion (£2 in goods or wages in 1524–5 , £1 in goods in 1543–5 ), in others the thresholds were much higher (£50 in 1526–7 , £20 in 1535–6 and 1540–1 ). The utility of the hearth tax is much increased in those years when we have the names of those considered sufficiently poor to be exempt. Nor does the...
Architecture Reference library
An Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age
...or principle. In practice, the picturesque was primarily a domestic style, as in the work of the country house architect Anthony *Salvin . It was rarely adopted for large-scale public buildings. Its abstract, formal pleasures militated against legible representations of order, utility, hierarchy, and tradition. Soane's Bank of England is perhaps the one major example of a picturesque public building. However, its novel ornamentation, complexly varied elevations, and intricate planning more often than not perplexed critics, who wanted public architecture to...
2 The Sacred Book Reference library
Carl Olson
The Oxford Companion to the Book
... Pāṭimokkha developed from a simple confession of faith made by monks and nuns into a basic code used to guarantee proper monastic behaviour. After it became established in this way, it functioned as a monastic liturgy. Monks and nuns periodically chanted these rules within their respective communities as entire groups, which worked to unify the communities and functioned as a reminder of the rules that bound them together. The group recitation of the Pāṭimokkha occurred twice a month in connection with fast days ( Poṣadha ) that were historically...
Law Reference library
An Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age
... was the clearest contemporary example of the continuing willingness of common law judges to create substantive law independently of the legislature, despite their modest claims to a merely declarative function. Moreover, in the absence of legislation for devolved local government, the central courts and their judges maintained some administrative functions. These took the form of the regulation of the corporations and parish rating authorities by *prerogative writ in King's Bench, as well as the practical supervision of local affairs through presentation...
