Does Directed Innovation Mitigate Climate Damage? Evidence from U.S. Agriculture

Jacob Moscona, Karthik Sastry · 2022 · The Quarterly Journal of Economics

Summary. Innovation in U.S. agriculture has shifted toward crops increasingly exposed to extreme temperatures since the mid-twentieth century, driven by adaptation-focused technologies. This directed innovation significantly reduces economic damage from temperature extremes at the county level. The authors estimate that innovation has offset 20% of potential agricultural land value losses from climate trends since 1960 and could offset 13% of projected damage by 2100, demonstrating that technological adaptation provides meaningful but incomplete protection against climate change.

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Moscona, J., & Sastry, K.. (2022). Does Directed Innovation Mitigate Climate Damage? Evidence from U.S. Agriculture. The Quarterly Journal of Economics. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjac039

@article{moscona-2022-does-directed-innovation-mitigate-climate,
  title   = {Does Directed Innovation Mitigate Climate Damage? Evidence from U.S. Agriculture},
  author  = {Jacob Moscona and Karthik Sastry},
  journal = {The Quarterly Journal of Economics},
  year    = {2022},
  doi     = {10.1093/qje/qjac039},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjac039}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Does Directed Innovation Mitigate Climate Damage? Evidence from U.S. Agriculture
AU  - Jacob Moscona
AU  - Karthik Sastry
JO  - The Quarterly Journal of Economics
PY  - 2022
DO  - 10.1093/qje/qjac039
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Details

DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjac039
Countries: United States
Regions: North America
Categories: agtech, climate-and-environment, innovation-theory
Added: 2026-04-28