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Biodiversity conservation tax incentives were inserted into the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 in terms of the Revenue Laws Amendment Act 60 of 2008 and are now contained in section 37C. The objectives of this study were to quantify the maximum potential revenue loss, to National Treasury, as a result of these tax incentives granted to landowners in the Western Cape; to identify and discuss alternative policy instruments to encourage conservation; and to investigate the perceptions of landowners in the Western Cape on the tax and alternative incentives available for conservation. The study found that the maximum tax revenue foregone should amount to a tiny percentage of total estimated revenue income for the 2008/2009 fiscal year, while projected future losses could also be insignificant. Landowners prefer direct financial incentives and exemption from property taxes, and contend that direct assistance with conservation activities would also be beneficial. The use of municipal value in the valuation of land would promote objectiveness and consistency. Finally, only a third of the landowners indicated that tax incentives would encourage them to commit more land for conservation.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the major differences between the government's role in building energy efficiency (BEE) in China and three developed countries, and to further the understanding of market expectations of the most effective government measures to encourage BEE development in China.

The approach taken was: establish a framework for a critical comparative study; compare and assess the BEE promotion measures available to governments in the USA, Canada, the UK and China; survey the BEE market expectations of building design professionals to better understand the favourable measures the Chinese Government could take to further promote BEE; and triangulate the findings of the comparative study and questionnaire survey to develop recommendations for BEE promotion in mainland China.

Economic incentives are important for BEE promotion at the current stage, but they are lacking in China. Active government interventions, such as adjusting energy pricing and implementing BEE legislation, are needed in China if BEE is to become economically viable and efficient.

Owing to limited resources, the questionnaire survey did not reach every part of China. A further study should be carried out to extend the investigation to more areas of China and to obtain wider stakeholder coverage.

The originality of this paper lies in its development of a theoretical framework to further understanding of the government's role in BEE promotion and its use of first‐hand data collected from industry to verify market expectations of that role in China.

Future energy consumption in China's building sector will have a considerable influence on both China and the world's energy markets. Although the Chinese government has set out a series of policies to promote building energy efficiency (BEE), the BEE market share remains small. The paper aims to identify the key policy deficiencies that affect such promotion.

Based on the defined roles played by the government, this paper traces the path that China's BEE policies have taken since the 1980s and highlights the key problems. To understand how the Chinese government's BEE policies meet the expectations of market stakeholders, the paper employs data from a questionnaire of building design professionals in the country's major cities to identify the most favourable factors for and existing hurdles to the promotion of the BEE market.

The Chinese government needs to exert greater effort towards overcoming the deficiencies in its roles as policy maker, fiscal hub and advocate. At this stage, China would benefit more from legal and government intervention than from heavy reliance on voluntary schemes for BEE promotion.

The paper shows that both the government and industry need to become better informed of the conditions required to attract market parties towards the promotion of BEE. This study also identifies the main concerns involved, thus providing a strong foundation for further study in this arena.

This paper highlights the mismatch between market expectations and government policies aimed at BEE promotion in China. It fills the knowledge gap between market stakeholders and government for future policy design concerning BEE promotion.

The aim of this study is to explore the current situation in the Russian construction industry and the obstacles, drivers and strategies that affect innovation implementation most significantly. The Russian construction industry is highly conservative and is often criticised for its lack of innovation. Construction firms invest relatively little in innovation adoption, development of new ideas and formal research and development.

This study utilised an extensive literature review followed by a questionnaire survey incorporating some post hoc interviews with 52 experts from the Russian architecture, engineering and construction industry to identify the most significant drivers, enablers, barriers and strategies related to innovation diffusion in construction.

Findings indicated that economic and financial difficulties, as well as inappropriate legislation, are the most significant barriers to innovation. Financial incentives, legislative improvements and the promotion of alternative construction procurement methods were viewed as the most critical strategies to improve the current lacklustre rate of innovation diffusion.

While there is anecdotal evidence that the Russian construction industry is lagging in terms of technological advancement, its closed nature means that there is still little reported evidence on what are the main barriers to innovation diffusion in this country. Hence, there is a lack of focus on innovation diffusion rates in different construction sectors, such as building and civil infrastructure and limited consideration on how effectively the research and development sector contributes to innovation.

At the outset, though, and before brief summaries of each of these cases are presented, it is important to underscore two key points that guide the organization of the entire volume. First, capital mobility is a complex phenomenon that assumes various forms as different types of capitals move at different velocities. Second, capital mobility is a necessary and irreplaceable component of capitalism. As for the first aspect, we will consider three types of capital: financial capital, productive capital, and labor. Obviously, these three forms of capital are endowed with different features that affect their behaviors and their ability to move through time and space. While all these three forms of capital share the common requirement that they need to be utilized in increasingly accelerated manners if capital accumulation had to expand, they also display tendencies that favor financial and productive capital and subordinate labor. If effect, the subordination of labor to financial and productive capital is one of the primary characteristics of globalization and one item that allowed the rapid expansion of capital accumulation over the last two decades.

By adopting a decolonial critical standpoint, the scope of this paper is to discuss the concept of legitimacy in the international management (IM) field and conduct a critique of its epistemological limitations.

This paper presents the approach to legitimacy most commonly used in the IM field in order to understand its limitations in analyzing the historical development of Brazilian ethanol.

The historical analysis of the Brazilian case shows that the narrow perspective underpinning the concept of legitimacy in the IM literature overlooks broader political and power relations since the focus of analysis is conducted from the standpoint of multinational corporations operating abroad. Thus, coloniality, international impositions of trends and fashions, illegitimacy and delegitimations, and dominant colonial designs are particular examples of forms of power and politics that are not visible in analysis using legitimacy in IM.

IM has rarely used legitimacy in contrast with other areas of knowledge that work with the notion of international content. The paper generates insights that can foster other interpretations and uses for the concept of legitimacy and illegitimacy in IM.

The purpose of this study is to discuss policy review in the interest of sustainable innovations in Malaysia’s public procurement. This study also offers the overall relationship between existing policies related to sustainable innovations in public procurement and the coherences towards the four dimensions of sustainable innovations.

This study outlines the current policies in Malaysia which are related to sustainable innovation initiatives and explores the cohesiveness that appears disconnected and understood separately. Policy content analysis is conducted on the current policies related to sustainable innovations in the context of Malaysia’s public procurement.

This study observed that the current policies related to sustainable innovations in public procurement are actually interconnected with each other through a hierarchical framework. This study also demonstrates that the 12th Malaysia Plan has comprehensively encompassed every aspect of the environment, social, economic and innovation to contribute to one primary goal – green economic growth.

The proposed policy framework is expected to be beneficial for the administrator executive among the civil servant to connect the independent policies and, at the same time, contribute to the overall goal of green economic growth. Through a broad policy structure too, this study helps the industry player to recognize their potential in any area related to sustainable innovation.

The policy framework illustrated is new to the literature, especially in Malaysia’s context. The compilation of current policy grounded by the 12th Malaysia Plan has not been presented in any publications.

Drawing on theories of development economics and sustainable tourism, this research explores the differences between sovereign and nonsovereign small island tourism economies (SITEs) and identifies the antecedents and effects of overtourism in the Caribbean.

The research design is based on a comparative case study of selected Caribbean SITEs. Case study research involves a detailed empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context. The main purpose of a case study is to provide a contextual analysis of the conditions and processes involved in the phenomenon under study. A comparative case study is an appropriate research methodology to explore new multi-faceted concepts with limited empirical evidence.

The results confirm previous studies that nonsovereign SITEs have a distinctive overdrive toward tourism specialization. Moreover, the findings indicate that overtourism is driven by both global and domestic policy factors and generates significant economic volatility, social inequality and ecological stress. The paper discusses the tourism policy implications of the evolving economic disconnectedness, environmental decay and social tensions in SITEs in the Caribbean.

Policy recommendations are presented for transitioning toward a more inclusive development and strengthening the resilience of small island tourism development in the Caribbean.

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate some reflections on the potentially contradictory relationship between the adoption of innovative payment instruments and the prevention and fight against financial crime. The ideal addresses of the paper are regulators in these two fields (Central Banks; Financial Intelligence Units).

The paper is largely based on reflections coming from the author's background as a central banker with a long experience in the statistical analysis of financial data with an anti‐money laundering (AML) focus.

The paper takes the move from the present and prospective characteristics of the payment means and moves on to analyse briefly the possible implications of their evolution in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The analysis shows how some factors that make innovative payment instruments desirable may, at the same time, represent elements of weakness in the prevention of financial crime.

The paper addresses a number of theoretical and systemic issues but no specific data or calculations are provided to evaluate alternative regulatory scenarios. Further studies could offer a more quantitative approach, in an attempt, for instance, to estimate the costs and benefits of the evolution of the praxis and legislation in the field of payment system and AML.

The paper openly tackles the cross effects of regulation in the financial sector, specifically addressing the potential risk factor represented by loosely regulated innovations of the payment instruments. The argument is intended to highlight both the importance of technological evolution and the necessity of a proper supervision over potential loopholes and unguarded passages that could be exploited by financial criminals.

The paper addresses questions of particular relevance in the present, fast developing world of advanced technological payments and global financial crime. The author underlines explicitly how these two fields share some common features; an original argument is developed with reference to the possible risk of unwanted spillovers between these two areas of public interest.

The study of the relationships between the public sector and the microfinance sector in Spain; through the analysis of the microcredit programs undertaken by the diverse governmental bodies, as well as their repercussion in the development of the microfinance sector.The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Details on the public policies analyzed have been mainly extracted from the web sites and annual reports of the agencies. Semi‐structured interviews to members of the boards of most microfinance institutions (MFIs), as well as a database compiled by the authors on the MFIs and their clients had been used. As a theoretical reference, concepts within the institutional theory are applied.

Financial services provided by governmental bodies to underprivileged are scarce, raising a lot of interest following its introduction, but with decreasing levels of realizations in recent years. Public policies have been found to influence in different ways the development and consolidation of the Spanish microfinance sector, although in general having feeble institutional impact.

The scope of the analysis, limited to only one European country.

Suggested paths for further collaboration between governmental bodies and MFIs and other social organizations related to the sector.

Focus on the public policies related to the microfinance sector in a developed country.