Unleashing innovation in the wake of disaster: patenting increases post-Hurricane Katrina
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First author draft
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Ballesteros, Luis
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First author draft
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Ballesteros, Luis, Unleashing Innovation in the Wake of Disaster: Patenting Increases Post-Hurricane Katrina (December 13, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3980107 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3980107
Abstract
Theoretically motivated by evidence that large exogenous shocks can produce enduring fluctuations in economic behavior, this study shows that counties affected by Hurricane Katrina exhibit substantial post-disaster increases in the quantity and quality of patenting compared to unaffected counterfactual counties. The significance of the matched-sample difference-in-differences estimates rises in damage severity, persists up to 10 years, and is robust to factors such as a post-disaster economic rebound, changes in the demand for specific innovation, aid and investment, wealth, education, and traditional explanations of innovative activity, such as firm R&D, institutions, and market factors, but enhanced by inventor density and collaboration. Using georeferenced histories of inventors, the analyses trace the “Katrina effect” and control for selective migration and company affiliation. The findings point to an understudied environmental driver of innovation.