Strategic groups as reference groups: Theory,modeling and empirical examination of industry and competitive strategy

Previous studies on strategic groups have mainly focused on their static characteristics in order to test the theory of strategic groups and intraindustry performance differences (Porter, 1979; Cool and Schendel, 1988; Fiegenbaum and Thomas, 1990). In contrast, this study takes a longitudinal, dynamic perspective and describes the forces driving strategic group membership and structural evolution. It proposes that a strategic group acts as a reference point for group members in formulating competitive strategy. A partial adjustment model of strategic mobility is then developed which incorporates the idea of a strategic group as a reference group. It models strategic change in an industry both within and across strategic groups. The model is tested in the context of an in-depth industry analysis of the more significant firms in the insurance industry over the 1970-84 time period. The results suggest that strategic groups act as reference points for firm strategies and that predictions of future firm strategies and industry/group structures may also be successfully derived.     

Snowpack response in the Assiniboine-Red River basin associated with projected global warming of 1.0 °C to 3.0 °C

This study assesses snow response in the Assiniboine-Red River basin, located in the Lake Winnipeg watershed, due to anthropogenic climate change. We use a process-based distributed snow model driven by an ensemble of eight statistically downscaled global climate models (GCMs) to project future changes under policy-relevant global mean temperature (GMT) increases of 1.0 °C to 3.0 °C above the pre-industrial period. Results indicate that basin scale seasonal warmings generally exceed the GMT increases, with greater warming in winter months. The majority of GCMs project wetter winters and springs, and drier summers, while autumn could become either drier or wetter. An analysis of snow water equivalent (SWE) responses under GMT changes reveal higher correlations of snow cover duration (SCD), snowmelt rate, maximum SWE (SWE_max) and timing of SWE_max with winter and spring temperatures compared to precipitation, implying that these variables are predominantly temperature controlled. Consequently, under the GMT increases from 1.0 °C to 3.0 °C, the basin will experience successively shorter SCD, slower snowmelt, smaller monthly SWE and SWE_max, earlier SWE_max, and a transition from snow-dominated to rain-snow hybrid regime. Further, while the winter precipitation increases for some GCMs compensate the temperature-driven changes in SWE, the increases for most GCMs occur as rainfall, thus limiting the positive contribution to snow storage. Overall, this study provides a detailed diagnosis of the snow regime changes under the policy-relevant GMT changes, and a basis for further investigations on water quantity and quality changes.     

拉萨河流域径流对土地利用和气候变化的响应分析

拉萨河流域处青藏高原中南部,因其独特的地理位置是对气候变化较为敏感的区域之一,同时也是青藏高原人口和耕地较为密集区域。在建立SWAT模型对拉萨河流域水循环过程进行模拟的基础上,通过设置不同气候情景与土地利用状况,分析近30 a来拉萨河流域径流变化的成因,并研究径流对气候因子变化的敏感性。结果表明:①气候变化与土地利用对径流影响占比分别约为82.95%和17.05%,主要原因在于近30 a拉萨河流域土地利用情况变化不大,而气温、降水则呈显著增加趋势;②降水每增加10%,流域径流约增加11.8%,且径流对降水变化敏感性的空间差异性较小;③气温每增加1 ℃,流域总径流约增加2.5%,但径流随气温变化的空间差异性较大,其中,中上游地区径流减小0.7%,下游地区径流约增加3.6%。     

基于降雨-径流试验的高寒草甸产流机制研究

对黄河源区高寒草甸产流机制进行研究,为河源区生态环境保护、水资源科学规划管理提供基础水文理论认知。基于野外降雨-径流试验,通过回归分析构建考虑坡度和覆被因子的暴雨和中小雨产流计算模式,精度良好,能够反映暴雨和中小雨2种降雨模式下高寒草甸产流的一般特征。试验结果表明,因草甸土-植体系蓄容能力较强,高寒草甸区地表产流主要发生在暴雨模式下,中小雨模式下的地表产流量一般很小。模式应用表明,草甸发生退化后,暴雨和中小雨入渗均有减少,暴雨模式下退化草甸比高覆草甸入渗减少约12%,中小雨模式下减少约3%。     

变化环境下韩江生态流量演变特征分析

选取位于粤东、闽西南地区的韩江流域为研究对象,基于CA-Markov模型对2050年流域土地利用空间格局进行预测,构建SWAT分布式水文模型,以未来土地利用情景和气候变化情景为变量进行水文模拟,分析不同情景下韩江生态流量的时空演变特征。结果表明,未来城镇化扩张将使梅江支流中上游成为韩江流域内生态流量对土地利用变化最为敏感的区域;土地利用和气候变化将导致韩江流域枯水期流量整体减小,枯水期流量对环境变化更加敏感;韩江流域生态流量变化特征将呈现从西南到东北由升到降的趋势,梅江支流中上游地区的生态流量将得到改善;梅江和汀江两大支流上游区域生态流量对气候变化更为敏感;韩江流域径流总量下降,但丰枯流量分化加剧,长期来看枯季生态流量保障风险可能进一步增大。     

阿姆河流域耕地变化及水土匹配特征分析

基于中亚阿姆河流域4个分区1990—2015年间土地利用变化和水资源等数据,运用耕地变化速率、洛伦兹曲线和基尼系数法以及水土资源匹配系数对阿姆河流域耕地变化和水土匹配状况进行了综合分析。结果表明:1990—2015年阿姆河流域耕地以146.74 km²/a的速度在扩张,且各时期、各分区扩张的速度不同;在不考虑咸海来水不断减少、生态持续恶化的前提下,绿洲区匹配状况属比较公平和相对合理状况;阿姆河流域水土资源空间分布存在明显的错位现象;全流域生态用水被农业用水严重挤占,阿姆河流域灌溉面积、灌溉用水量成为影响咸海水量及面积变化的重要因素,是一种不可持续的用水方式。     

Performance of lot-level low impact development technologies under historical and climate change scenarios

Low impact development (LID) systems have potential to make urban cities more sustainable and resilient, particularly under challenging climate conditions. To quantify performance capabilities, modeling results for an array of combinations of LIDs are described using PCSWMM at lot-level to examine performance of individual LIDs on volume and peak flow reductions. Among the four LIDs studied: rain barrel (RB), vegetative swale (VS), bioretention cell (BC), and permeable pavement (PP), PP at lot-level demonstrated the best capability for reducing surface runoff volumes and peak runoff rates under historical weather conditions, while BC showed similar capability for reduction of runoff volumes but minimal peak flow reduction. With PP as the controlling method at lot-level, the maximum percentage reduction of runoff volume for a 2-year storm is 58% whereas for a 100-year storm, the runoff volume reduction is 20%. These results mean the extent of flooding that may arise from the 100-year storm is reduced, but not eliminated. Effectively, the 100-year storm volumes with LID are devolved to have flooding equivalent to a 25-year storm. Under climate change scenarios, performance for all LIDs declined at various levels, where BC was the most resilient LID for a climate change scenario, such that projected 2-year or 5-year storms with climate change will have its impact devolved with LID in place, to result in similar volumes and peaks without LID under historical conditions. Furthermore, even with an assembly of lot-level LIDs distributed throughout the community, there is not attenuation to substantial degrees of flooding for major events, but there can be effective control for water quantity for small (2- to 5-years in particular) storm events.     

基于时序特征的黄河三角洲土地覆盖动态及驱动力分析

综合不同土地利用类型的Landsat影像时序特征和面向对象分割方法,分析1985-2018年现代黄河三角洲土地覆盖时空特征,探讨土地覆盖变化的驱动机制。结果表明:1985-2018年间研究区天然湿地面积大幅减少,共减少9.9847×104 hm²,其中沼泽和草甸湿地面积减少尤为明显,而人工湿地面积则逐年增加,年平均增加率达54.66%,主要是盐田养殖场和水稻种植面积的增大;社会经济因素对研究区土地覆盖的影响程度高于水文因素;输沙量是影响研究区土地覆盖变化的主要水文因素,实测径流量的减少进一步导致天然湿地向旱地类型转化;人口和GDP变化对人工湿地面积增加的正相关作用比较显著,而天然湿地面积的减少则与该两个指标的负相关关系比较明显。     

基于CMIP5的中国西北地区暖湿化演变研究

为了解中国西北地区历史与未来时期的气候演变趋势,以CMFD再分析数据集及CMIP5全球气候模式输出数据为基础,从时空维度详细分析了西北地区历史气候的演变特征并对区域未来气候发展进行了预估。结果表明：1979-2018年西北地区的气温、降水量以及近地面空气比湿均呈现出明显的增加趋势,且未来极有可能继续增加;此外,降水量在年内的分配过程越趋均匀化,且降水结构在2001年左右发生了较大突变。整体来看,西北地区的历史气候演变显示出高度的暖湿化倾向。未来情景下,西北地区的气候将继续朝暖湿化方向发展,同时降水量的年内分配不均匀性也将进一步减小,且在RCP8.5排放情景下表现的更为突出。本研究可为西北地区气候变化的影响评估提供参考,同时也为水利、农业、气象和生态等部门的决策提供科学依据。