RIVAL CONSUMPTION: Consumption of a good by one person imposes a cost on, or prevents consumption of the good by, another person. Some goods, like food, have extremely rival consumption. One person, and only one person, gets the benefit. Other goods, like national defense, have no consumption rivalry, everyone can benefit simultaneously without imposing a cost on others. This is one of the two key characteristics of a good (the other is excludability) that distinguishes between common-property goods, near-public goods, private goods, and public goods.

     See also | excludability | good types | public goods | common-property good | near-public good | private good | consumption |

RIVAL CONSUMPTION, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2023. [Accessed: January 31, 2023].

Back to the GLOSS*arama

A principle stating that as the quantity of a good consumed increases, eventually each additional unit of the good provides less additional utility--that is, marginal utility decreases. Each subsequent unit of a good is valued less than the previous one. The law of diminishing marginal utility helps to explain the negative slope of the demand curve and the law of demand.

Complete Entry | Visit the WEB*pedia

Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time watching the shopping channel seeking to buy either a 50-foot blue garden hose or a turbo-powered vacuum cleaner. Be on the lookout for infected paper cuts.
Your Complete Scope

This isn't me! What am I?

-- Anthony Quayle, Actor

User Feedback