Identifying the influence of natural disasters on technological innovation.

We study the influence of natural disasters on technological innovation for a panel of 49 countries. After controlling for endogeneity issues and using several measures of natural disasters (occurrences, deaths, affected people, and economic damages) we find that natural disasters have a significantly negative effect on technological innovation. We also study the disaggregated effects of natural disasters and find that earthquakes, extreme temperatures, floods, and storms influence innovations most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]