Inverse demand function

In economics, an inverse demand function is the mathematical relationship that expresses price as a function of quantity demanded (it is therefore also known as a price function).[1]

Historically, the economists first expressed the price of a good as a function of demand (holding the other economic variables, like income, constant), and plotted the price-demand relationship with demand on the x (horizontal) axis (the demand curve). Later the additional variables, like prices of other goods, came into analysis, and it became more convenient to express the demand as a multivariate function (the demand function): , so the original demand curve now depicts the inverse demand function with extra variables fixed.[2]

  1. ^ R., Varian, Hal (7 April 2014). Intermediate microeconomics : with calculus (First ed.). New York. p. 115. ISBN 9780393123982. OCLC 884922812.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Karaivanov, Alexander. "The demand function and the demand curve" (PDF). sfu.ca. Simon Fraser University. Retrieved 29 August 2023.