Model of the Valuation of the Synergistic Benefits of Being In A Relationship

Ideally...

 

Being part of a relationship should offer all the advantages of singleness, but with the added _option_ of the benefits made possible by synergy when more than one party come together to pool their strengths. This is because efficiency and non-duplication of effort and the usage of resources are then seen in the areas where one or the other happens to have a higher competency in.

 

Ergo, savings should be gained in the use of effort, and other resources.

 

An 'option' cannot take on a negative value as holding the possibility, but not the obligation, to engage in something cannot be worth less than zero.

 

In effect, the above model implies that the best of both worlds can be achieved. In other words, one (both, actually) can have their cake and eat it too.

 

However: there is an important condition that is required for the model to work:

 

In other words, mathematically, as the holder of an option, the value of being in a relationship should not be less than the value of being single provided the below assumption is met:

 

1. That neither party oblige each other to do things that they are not willing to do. In other words, before entering into the transaction - they must ensure that they are mutually satisfied with the terms of the other party as presented to them at this initial stage - and expect them as unlikely to change substantially over the course of time, as are written terms in a contract in any regular business agreement.

 

In those aspects that the other party has assumed no obligation to comply with, the first party should 'take care of themself' i.e. handle those aspects similar to what they would do had they remained single.

In which, this situation is no worse off than being single.

 

However -- in the areas that one of the parties has a competitive advantage in and henceforth agreed to take responsibility for, the handling of this area by the said superior party would bring mutual benefit to both parties, this is what constitutes the value of entering into such an agreement.

 

Take note that the validity of the above model hinges totally on this single condition.