Introducing Nonlinear Pricing into Consumer Choice Theory

Introducing nonlinear pricing into the teaching of consumer choice theory would provide an extension that introduces the student to a ubiquitous phenomenon and would enable the instructor to develop some interesting behavioral results. After distinguishing linear and nonlinear pricing, the authors derive the tariff, the consumer budget equation, and some behavioral implications for various nonlinear pricing policies. They show, among other things, that under some forms of nonlinear pricing, after a price rise people may buy more of a commodity or more of a commodity than would have been bought under linear pricing. They note some complications arising in the treatment of quantity discounts and premia.