Ceteris paribus

1. CETERIS PARIBUS
Professor Puttu Guru Prasad
M.Com, M.B.A, L L.B, M.Phil, P.G.D.F.T.M, AP.SET,
(PhD) from JNTUK
Certified NSS Program Officer
Gold Medalist from ANU in Law
Top Ranker in PhD Admissions &
AP.SET.

2. Ceteris Paribus
 Ceteris paribus or caeteris paribus is a Latin
phrase, literally translated as with other things the
same," or all other things being equal or held
constant." It is commonly rendered in English as
all other things being equal.”
 A prediction, or a statement about causal or
logical connections between two states of affairs,
is qualified by ceteris paribus in order to
acknowledge, and to rule out, the possibility of
other factors that could override the relationship
between the antecedent and the consequent.

3. Ceteris Paribus
 A ceteris paribus assumption is often fundamental
to the predictive purpose of scientific inquiry. In
order to formulate scientific laws, it is usually
necessary to rule out factors which interfere with
examining a specific causal relationship.
 Under scientific experiments, the ceteris paribus
assumption is realized when a scientist controls
for all of the independent variables other than the
one under study, so that the effect of a single
independent variable on the dependent variable
can be isolated. By holding all the other relevant
factors constant, a scientist is able to focus on the
unique effects of a given factor in a complex
causal situation.

4. Ceteris Paribus
 Such assumptions are also relevant to the
descriptive purpose of modeling a theory. In
such circumstances, analysts such as
physicists, economists, and behavioral
psychologists apply simplifying assumptions in
order to devise or explain an analytical
framework that does not necessarily prove
cause and effect but is still useful for
describing fundamental concepts within a
realm of inquiry.

5. Ceteris Paribus
 One of the disciplines in which ceteris paribus
clauses are most widely used is economics, in
which they are employed to simplify the
formulation and description of economic
outcomes. When using ceteris paribus in
economics, assume all other variables except
those under immediate consideration are held
constant.
 For example, it can be predicted that if the price
of beef increases { ceteris paribus { the quantity of
beef demanded by buyers will decrease. In this
example, the clause is used to operationally
describe everything surrounding the relationship
between both the price and the quantity
demanded of an ordinary good.

6. Ceteris Paribus
 This operational description intentionally ignores
both known and unknown factors that may also
influence the relationship between price and
quantity demanded, and thus to assume ceteris
paribus is to assume away any interference with
the given example.
 Such factors that would be intentionally ignored
include: the relative change in price of substitute
goods, (e.g., the price of beef vs pork or lamb);
the level of risk aversion among buyers (e.g., fear
of mad cow disease); and the level of overall
demand for a good regardless of its current price
level (e.g., a societal shift toward vegetarianism).
The clause is often loosely translated as holding
all else constant."