System and method for the synthesis of an economic web and the

Abstract

An economy comprises a relation among agents, goods and services. Each good and service in the economy consists of combinations of more primitive goods and services. Goods and services can be complements or substitutes to other goods and services. Complements are sets of goods or services which are used jointly to produce a given other goods or services. In contrast, substitutes are sets of goods or services which might substitute for one another in a given production technology or consumption good. Complementary goods and services must be used together to create value in the economy. Most goods and services create value in the economy via positive functional interactions with their complements and via competition with their substitutes. The invention provides a system and method called Economic Web Sherpa which effectively and rapidly gathers data on the functional relations within an economy and which synthesizes an economic web model defining the local structure of the economic relations within the vicinity of a company or other economic agent. Economic Web Sherpa also analyzes the functional structure of the economic web model and generates new goods and services to identify new niches, new growth opportunities and new locations of strategic competition for a company of other economic agent.