I'm currently studying semigroups and trying to figure out how to determine which type variables need a semigroup instance. Here are a couple of examples from Evan Cameron's github (https://github.com/leshow/haskell-programming-book/blob/master/src/Ch15ex.hs): (1) data Validation a b = Failure a | Success b deriving (Eq, Show) instance Semigroup a => Semigroup (Validation a b) where Success a <> Success b = Success a Failure a <> Success b = Success b Success a <> Failure b = Success a Failure a <> Failure b = Failure (a <> b) * Why doesn't 'b' need an instance of semigroup? (2) newtype AccumulateRight a b = AccumulateRight (Validation a b) deriving (Eq, Show) instance Semigroup b => Semigroup (AccumulateRight a b) where AccumulateRight (Success a) <>AccumulateRight (Failure b) =AccumulateRight (Success a) AccumulateRight (Failure a) <>AccumulateRight (Success b) =AccumulateRight (Success b) AccumulateRight (Failure a) <>AccumulateRight (Failure b) =AccumulateRight (Failure a) AccumulateRight (Success a) <> AccumulateRight (Success b) = AccumulateRight (Success (a <> b)) * Why doesn't 'a' need an instance of semigroup? Thank you, Andrea Sent with [ProtonMail](https://protonmail.com) Secure Email.