Working Paper #2014-053
Does too much work hamper innovation? Evidence for diminishing returns of work hours for patent grants
This study suggests that individual time is an important factor that
needs to be considered in innovation research. We define two types of
time: work time and free time. We find that work time has a positive but
diminishing effect on innovative output such that after a certain point
the innovation-enhancing role of work time is taken over by individual
free time. Using a sample of OECD countries and Russia, we estimate a
quadratic relationship between work time and per capita innovative
output. For a hypothetical economy that has no other holidays but
weekends, we estimate that individuals should not work more than about
6.6 hours a day for maximizing innovative output. We also present a
categorization of countries based on their innovative output and work
hours that may kindle interest for certain case-specific future
research.
- Keywords
-
- Innovation
- Patents
- Working Hours
- Time
- Neo-Capital Theories
- Network Failures
- JEL codes
-
- O30
- O31
- J08
- J22
- M5
Cite this as
APA 7th ed.Celbis, M. G., & Turkeli, S. (2014). Does too much work hamper innovation? Evidence for diminishing returns of work hours for patent grants (UNU-MERIT Working Paper No. 2014-053). UNU-MERIT. https://unu-merit.nl/publications/working-papers/abstract/?id=5495