How We’re Different

What Distinguishes Taimerica from our Competitors?

Taimerica’s approach to economic strategy differs from those of our competitors.  Our methodology incorporates assessments that have been validated by development experience throughout the world.  These five principals guide our approach:

1) Look for root causes rather than symptoms.

If the root cause of slow growth is a lack of social or human capital or intellectual property, don’t copy strategies from communities with these attributes.  Focusing economic development resources on root causes will succeed over time while cloning the tactics of others only wastes resources.

2) Identify the scarce resource then address the scarce resource in development strategy.

Liebig’s Law of the Minimum is a framework for doing this.

3) Build a consensus on the facts, then search for a consensus on priorities for addressing the root causes of slow development.

Leaders often disagree on priorities because they base their judgments on individual experiences.  They sometimes disagree because the community has not built up the social capital needed to marshal collective action.  Providing a common set of relevant facts to leaders is the first step in an effective planning process.  Taimerica does this by comparing your community to competitor communities, rather than relying on self-assessments of a community’s strengths and weaknesses by residents and leaders.  When leaders see their community as outsiders see it, they often adjust their thinking.  This process also helps build bonding and bridging social capital that is paramount for setting priorities for collective action.  We also use tools like Condorcet voting to ensure that development priorities in fact reflect the consensus view of the community.

4) Involve all elements of the community’s leadership in the process.

Business, education, and government all have to be part of the process if the community is going to succeed.  Private investors make the majority of the investments needed to grow the economy, so they have to be engaged in the development process.  All of these stakeholders need to be engaged in exploring development solutions.

5) Do not expect different economic results if you are repeating the past.

If past economic growth has been weak, the current economy is unlikely to provide the vehicle for faster growth in the future.  Economic diversification is a critical element to success in these conditions.  In some cases, removing development constraints is also an important element in development strategy.