Capability-market matrix analysis for economic development policy

Over the past decade, there has been significant interest in regions and communities worldwide to attract and incubate growth oriented high technology companies as an approach to economic development. In this paper, we introduce a simple method (CM Matrix) for analyzing the strengths of a community to grow high technology companies. The method can be applied to distinguish the relative strengths of a region based on the available talent pool in that region. The model is illustrated using data collected in the Champaign-Urbana region in Illinois, USA. Several hypotheses for future research are also suggested.