Product of concave functions is concave

$\begingroup$

I have something like this $$ h(x) = f(x) g(x) $$ where $f$ and $g$ are some nice functions such that $f$ is $[0,1]$-bounded, concave function and $g$ is some negative, decreasing, concave function.

Is $h$ concave? If not, then can we impose more conditions on $f$ and $g$ such that $h$ is concave?

$\endgroup$ 1

2 Answers

$\begingroup$

Let's take $$ f(x)=g(x)=x, $$which is concave (but not strictly concave).

Then $h(x)=x^2$, which is convex.

NB I take the definition of concavity from Wikipedia. It might be the other way round in your textbook.

You can then easily find strictly concave examples. Take$$ f(x)=g(x)=x^{2/3}, $$which are both concave, but $f\times g$ is clearly convex.

$\endgroup$ $\begingroup$

No. Let $f$ be decreasing concave and bounded and $g(x)=-x$. Then $fg$ is actually convex for $x >0$. You can see this by computing the second derivative.

$\endgroup$

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Sign up using Google Sign up using Facebook Sign up using Email and Password

Post as a guest

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

You Might Also Like