Stone–Geary utility function

The Stone–Geary utility function takes the form

where U is utility, q i is consumption of good i , and β and γ are parameters.

For γ i = 0 , the Stone–Geary function reduces to the generalised Cobb–Douglas function.

The Stone–Geary utility function gives rise to the Linear Expenditure System, in which the demand function equals

where y is total expenditure, and p i is the price of good i .

The Stone–Geary utility function was first derived by Roy C. Geary, in a comment on earlier work by Lawrence Klein and Herman Rubin. Richard Stone was the first to estimate the Linear Expenditure System.