Environmental jolts, institutional change, and the creation of entrepreneurial opportunity in the US electric power industry

The relationship between institutional change and entrepreneurship is poorly understood. We build the theory in this area by tracing institutional change in the US electric power industry over a 40-year period. Our analysis shows that environmental jolts mobilize actors to reformulate institutions, resulting in increased entrepreneurial opportunity. When the institutional environment is stable, we find that incumbent organizational forms and embedded logics present formidable obstacles to entrepreneurial activity. Environmental jolts, however, catalyze search processes and motivate the evaluation of current institutional logics. Specifically, in the case of the electric power industry, environments of abundance and regulation resulted in homogeneity of organizational structures and strategies, and few entrepreneurial opportunities. Environments marked by scarcity and crisis, however, witnessed heavy scrutiny of existing institutional arrangements that eroded their taken-for-grantedness and symbolic value, resulting in opportunities for entrepreneurial action.     

1995—2015年中国北方边境样带土地利用时空格局演变及驱动因素

随着“一带一路”倡议的推进,中国北方边境地区的战略地位日益显著,研究该区域的土地利用格局、过程与机理,对区域可持续发展至关重要。本文采用样带研究方法,基于1995年、2000年、2005年、2010年和2015年的土地利用/覆被数据,利用空间分析和多元回归分析揭示样带土地利用变化的时空格局演变及驱动因素。结果表明：①北方边境样带以林地、草地、水域、未利用地等生态保育用地为主,占比超过90%,20年间土地利用结构和空间格局变化较小。②研究期间,北方边境样带以城乡建设用地、粮食保障用地扩张和生态保育用地退化为主要特征,不同类型的土地利用/土地覆被变化表现出明显的时空差异,粮食保障用地、城乡建设用地扩张速度在2010年后显著加快,土地扩张模式逐渐由林草地开垦转向未利用地开发。③城镇化和经济发展是促进北方边境地区粮食保障用地和城乡建设用地扩张的主要因素,生态保育用地则受自然、气候、区位条件和农业技术水平的影响,在粮食保障用地和城乡建设用地主动式扩张过程中呈现被动减少趋势。同时,政策和制度的干预也是影响该区域土地利用变化的重要因素,作用于粮食保障用地和城乡建设用地的扩张和生态保育用地的保护恢复。总体而言,北方边境样带的生态保育用地虽然在政策和制度的干预下退化趋势有所减缓,但是,草地资源持续减少、水域面积缩减和未利用地不断开发等土地利用变化带来的生态环境危机仍然存在,影响该区域的可持续发展。