A Study On The Resilience Of Apple-related Businesses In The Loess Plateau Under Climate Disaster

In recent years,the climate change in the Loess Plateau has been evident and there is a trend of warming and drying,which has a profound impact on the ecosystem as well as economy.As one of the main bodies of microeconomic,apple-related businesses(businesses in apple industry chain)are more vulnerable to climate change due to their dependence on climate-sensitive apple resources.According to our survey,in 2016 about 73% of the apple-related businesses in the Loess Plateau fell in operating revenue owing to climate disasters,and most of them fell more than 5%.On the one hand,climate disaster affects the quality of products or raw materials of apple-related businesses through the quality of apple resources,which in turn threatens the market competitiveness of the product;on the other hand,climate disaster changes the availability of apple resources,and businesses may face risks such as rising costs and product shortages.Whether apple-related businesses have resilience under climate disaster and how to effectively deal with climate change risks and improve resilience,is the key to the future development of businesses.Current business resilience researches lack a theoretical framework clarifying what causes the business resilience and how to achieve resilience.Therefore,based on the literature review,this paper constructs a research framework of business resilience from two aspects: ‘content'(enterprise resources,dynamic competitiveness,learning and culture,enterprise characteristics)and process initiatives(mitigation,adaptation activities).This paper focuses on apple-related businesses in the Loess Plateau.Based on the subjective perception method of the enterprise managers,this paper provides a concrete method to evaluate the resilience of apple-related businesses.Using regression analysis and causal stepwise regression method,we test hypotheses that the enterprise resources,dynamic capabilities,learning and culture,enterprise characteristics and process initiatives are the promoting factors of enterprise resilience,and that,these influencing factors have indirect effects on enterprise resilience through process initiatives.It provides theoretical support for improving the resilience and competitiveness of enterprises,which contributes to optimizing government adaptive policies.We find that(1)dynamic competitiveness,learning and culture have a positive effect on business resilience,business resources have an uncertain influence,while enterprise characteristics are significantly negatively correlated with business resilience,and(2)different activities have different effects on business resilience.Mitigation activities have a catalytic effect and adaptation activities have inhibitory effects;(3)among all the influencing factors,process initiatives have the greatest impact on business resilience,followed by resources,dynamic competitiveness,learning and culture,and business characteristics have the minimum impact;(4)the influencing factors clustered as ‘content' of resilience interact with the process initiatives of developing resilience.And key factors have direct and indirect effects on business resilience.Through adaptation activities,enterprise resources and dynamic competitiveness have an indirect effect on business resilience,while enterprise characteristics indirectly affect business resilience through mitigation activities.Individuals(government,enterprises,etc.)should make related measures based on the identification of key factors affecting the business resilience.In Loess Plateau,enterprises should be encouraged to adopt climate change mitigation and adaptation activities and increase resources to enhance the resilience of apple-related business.At the same time,the government should conduct differentiated management for enterprises according to different sizes and types,which gives full play to the flexibility of small businesses and promotes the sustainable development of apple-related enterprises.