Indifference Curve - History

History

The theory of indifference curves was developed by Francis Ysidro Edgeworth, who explained in his book "Mathematical Psychics: an Essay on the Application of Mathematics to the Moral Sciences”, 1881, the mathematics needed for its drawing; later on, Vilfredo Pareto was the first author to actually draw these curves, in his book "Manual of Political Economy", 1906; and others in the first part of the 20th century. The theory can be derived from William Stanley Jevons's ordinal utility theory, which posits that individuals can always rank any consumption bundles by order of preference.

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