Clusters in the Wilderness: Knowledge Spillovers Based on Outdoor Recreation

Smaller cities like Boise wishing to reap the benefits of clusters should play to their strengths, and creating an urban ecosystem conductive to high-trust informal social interaction may be one underexplored area of competitive advantage. In my research, I examine how widespread participation in informal, high-trust, non-work activities can lead to increased knowledge spillovers in the formal economy and drive increased and sustainable economic success by looking at outdoor sports interactions between key players in the economy around Boise, Idaho. In this paper, I look at background factors and examine the literature, and provide initial analysis.