The Effects of Terrorist Attacks on Inventor Productivity and Mobility

We examine the causal effects of terrorism on inventor productivity and mobility. During the five-year window after terrorist attacks, inventors close to the strikes are more likely to move to distant companies. While the inventors that continue working for firms near the attacks exhibit a drastic productivity decline, those that relocate to faraway companies do not. These results prove robust to alternative specifications and numerous controls including the influence of the 9/11 attacks. Our findings provide novel insights about the impact of shocks that distort human capital productivity and promote the mobility and reallocation of specialized resources among firms