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Leisure Time Invention

Author

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  • Lee N. Davis

    (Department of Innovation and Organizational Economics, Copenhagen Business School, DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark)

  • Jerome D. Davis

    (Department of Political Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, B3H 4H6 Nova Scotia, Canada)

  • Karin Hoisl

    (Institute for Innovation Research, Technology Management and Entrepreneurship (INNO-tec), Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany)

Abstract

This paper studies the contextual factors that influence whether invention occurs during work time or leisure time. Leisure time invention, a potentially important but thus far largely unexplored source of employee creativity, refers to invention where the main underlying idea occurs while the employee is away from the workplace. We build on existing theory in the fields of organizational creativity and knowledge recombination, especially work relating context to creativity. The paper’s main theoretical contribution is to extend our understanding of the boundaries of employee creativity by adding to the discussion of how access to and exploitation of different types of resources—during work hours or during leisure time—may affect creativity. Based on survey data from more than 3,000 inventions from German employee inventors, we find that leisure time inventions are more frequently observed for conceptually based problems, in cases where interactions with people outside the organization are important for making the invention, and for smaller research and development projects. Our findings also suggest that employee inventions during work time may become more “embedded” in an environment of path-dependent resources than those made during leisure time.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee N. Davis & Jerome D. Davis & Karin Hoisl, 2013. "Leisure Time Invention," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 1439-1458, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:24:y:2013:i:5:p:1439-1458
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1120.0791
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    2. Mehmet G. Celbis & Serdar Turkeli, 2015. "Does Too Much Work Hamper Innovation? Evidence for Diminishing Returns of Work Hours for Patent Grants," Journal Global Policy and Governance, Transition Academia Press, vol. 4(1), pages 97-116.
    3. Lukoschek, Carmen Sabrina & Stock-Homburg, Ruth Maria, 2021. "Integrating Home and Work: How the Work Environment Enhances Household-Sector Innovations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    4. Schweisfurth, Tim G. & Raasch, Christina, 2018. "Absorptive capacity for need knowledge: Antecedents and effects for employee innovativeness," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 687-699.
    5. Boikos, Spyridon & Bucci, Alberto & Stengos, Thanasis, 2022. "Leisure and innovation in horizontal R&D-based growth," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    6. Hamrick, Alexander B., 2022. "Stress[ed] out, leisure in: The role of leisure crafting in facilitating entrepreneurs’ work stressor— creativity relationship," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).

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