This paper investigates the influence of climate change on green innovation by studying U.S. patent examiners. We leverage local climatic disasters as exogenous shocks to examiners’ climate change beliefs and find that exposed examiners grant more green patents of higher quality. The higher quality stems from in creased efforts by examiners. This “greening” of gatekeepers has real economic effects, as these patents are associated with greater corporate carbon emissions reductions and improved firm performance. Our findings highlight that climate change can significantly influence the advancement of green technologies by shifting the attitudes and efforts of individuals toward green innovation.
