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Sustainability requires developing the capacity to manage difficult tradeoffs to advance human livelihoods now and in the future. Decision-makers are recognizing the ecosystem services approach as a useful framework for evaluating tradeoffs associated with environmental change to advance decision-making towards holistic solutions. In this dissertation I conduct an ecosystem services assessment on the Yongding River Ecological Corridor in Beijing, China. I developed a `10-step approach' to evaluate multiple ecosystem services for public policy. I use the 10-step approach to evaluate five ecosystem services for management from the Yongding Corridor. The Beijing government created lakes and wetlands for five services (human benefits): (1) water storage (groundwater recharge), (2) local climate regulation (cooling), (3) water purification (water quality), (4) dust control (air quality), and (5) landscape aesthetics (leisure, recreation, and economic development).
The Yongding Corridor is meeting the final ecosystem service levels for landscape aesthetics, but the new ecosystems are falling short on meeting final ecosystem service levels for water storage, local climate regulation, water purification, and dust control. I used biophysical models (process-based and empirically-based), field data (biophysical and visitor surveys), and government datasets to create ecological production functions (i.e., regression models). I used the ecological production functions to evaluate how marginal changes in the ecosystems could impact final ecosystem service outcomes. I evaluate potential tradeoffs considering stakeholder needs to recommend synergistic actions for addressing priorities while reducing service shortfalls.
The Yongding Corridor is meeting the final ecosystem service levels for landscape aesthetics, but the new ecosystems are falling short on meeting final ecosystem service levels for water storage, local climate regulation, water purification, and dust control. I used biophysical models (process-based and empirically-based), field data (biophysical and visitor surveys), and government datasets to create ecological production functions (i.e., regression models). I used the ecological production functions to evaluate how marginal changes in the ecosystems could impact final ecosystem service outcomes. I evaluate potential tradeoffs considering stakeholder needs to recommend synergistic actions for addressing priorities while reducing service shortfalls.
ContributorsWong, Christina P (Author) / Kinzig, Ann P (Thesis advisor) / Lee, Kai N. (Committee member) / Muneepeerakul, Rachata (Committee member) / Ouyang, Zhiyun (Committee member) / Vivoni, Enrique (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
In recent years, China and Japan have both experienced the serious challenge of handling some of the most destructive natural disasters in human history with the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and the 2011 Fukushima incident. After careful examination of geological surveys and further evidence released in the aftermath, these two incidents can be regarded as man-made or technological disasters, which differentiate them from the multitude of natural disasters that have happened previously. Their unique causation also creates a need for separate analysis of the public reaction towards these disasters. Due to existing knowledge and communication gaps within the Chinese and Japanese governments, the official media reports of these disasters also hold many problems, such as a lack of clarity, consistency, and transparency caused by a shortage of investigative journalism. Japan, in particular, has grappled with the bias of "nuclear nationalism" since post-World War II. These issues and ideas can change public opinion drastically, which makes it necessary to evaluate the combined effects on the psychology of people trying to come to terms with these technological disasters and examine possible solutions for this problem.
ContributorsPaschke, Lauren Anne (Author) / Spring, Madeline (Thesis director) / Zhu, Jie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Sacred apocalyptic texts claim to foretell coming events, warning the faithful of some terrible fate that lies beyond the present. Such texts often derive their power from successfully recasting past events in such a way as they appear to be "predicted" by the text and thus take on additional meanings beyond the superficial. This ex eventu status allows apocalyptic texts to increase the credibility of their future predictions and connect emotionally with the reader by playing on present fears. The fifth-century Daoist apocalyptic text, the Scripture on the Cycles of Heaven and Earth (Tiandi yundu jing, 天地運度經), is no exception. This thesis examines the apocalyptic markers in the poetic sections of the text, attempting to develop a strategy for separating the generic imagery (both to Chinese texts and the apocalyptic literary genre as a whole) from the more significant recoverable references to contemporary events such as the fall of the Jin dynasty and the subsequent founding of the Liu-Song dynasty.
ContributorsBussio, Jennifer Jean (Author) / Bokenkamp, Stephen (Thesis advisor) / Chen, Huaiyu (Committee member) / Cutter, Robert J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Chinese commercial banks have experienced a period of fast and stable development since 2007. The adoption of a comprehensive enterprise risk management (ERM) system based on the Basel Accords was a significant event for the banking supervisory authority and the commercial banks during this period. This study investigates the impact of ERM adoption on the financial performance of the commercial banks as well as the underlying mechanisms using longitudinal data of 96 commercial banks from 2007 to 2016. Results from quantitative analyses suggest the following findings. First, ERM adoption had a positive impact on commercial banks’ financial performance after controlling for the negative impacts of factors such as macro economic conditions and fiscal and monetary policies. Second, although this positive impact was partially attributed to increased risk appetite after the adoption of ERM, results show that ERM adoption also increased risk-adjusted financial performance. Lastly, ERM adoption improved commercial banks’ competence in risk management, as indicated by their sensitivity of financial returns to risk exposures. The above findings also received support from interviews and surveys of senior executives of commercial banks and officials of the banking supervisory authorities.
This study contributes to the understanding of how the adoption of ERM influences the financial performance of Chinese commercial banks, and has important practical implications. Based on the empirical findings, I recommend all commercial banks in China to adopt and implement ERM so that they can better cope with the challenges presented by macroeconomic uncertainty, marketization, and internationalization. In the process, it is critical for them to understand the mechanisms through which ERM influences their performance. Meanwhile, they shall be aware of the operational costs associated with the initial adoption of ERM, learn from the experiences of those that have already adopted ERM, and have a long-term orientation about performance effect of ERM adoption. Supervisory authorities can also play a key role in guiding commercial banks to be more effective and efficient in the adoption of ERM.
This study contributes to the understanding of how the adoption of ERM influences the financial performance of Chinese commercial banks, and has important practical implications. Based on the empirical findings, I recommend all commercial banks in China to adopt and implement ERM so that they can better cope with the challenges presented by macroeconomic uncertainty, marketization, and internationalization. In the process, it is critical for them to understand the mechanisms through which ERM influences their performance. Meanwhile, they shall be aware of the operational costs associated with the initial adoption of ERM, learn from the experiences of those that have already adopted ERM, and have a long-term orientation about performance effect of ERM adoption. Supervisory authorities can also play a key role in guiding commercial banks to be more effective and efficient in the adoption of ERM.
ContributorsJia, Guoqing (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Qian, Jun (Thesis advisor) / Cheng, Shijun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018