It is a sandwich Thesis. The first and the second essay are joint works with my Supervisor, Dr. Ronald Balvers. The third essay is joint work with Fangxing Liu, a Ph.D. candidate (Finance) at DeGroote School of Business, where we have equally shared the work responsibility. / First essay deals with Productivity shocks. Productivity shocks transmitted from productivity leaders to trailing sectors are systematic sources of risk. Global technology and knowledge diffusion leads to predictable patterns in productivity dynamics across countries and industries. Productivity gaps determine the level of exposure to the systematic leader productivity shocks. Firms in a country-industry with larger productivity gaps relative to the world leader are more dependent on the leader's innovations compared to their own productivity improvements. They thus have higher loadings on the leader productivity shocks and higher average stock returns. For OECD panel data, a country-industry's productivity gap significantly predicts the stock returns of the country-industry: holding the quintile of country- industry portfolios with the largest gaps and shorting the quintile with the smallest gaps generates annual returns of 9.8% (6.7% after risk adjustment with standard factors). A factor associated with the productivity gap explains country-industry portfolio returns substantially better than standard factor models. Loadings on leader-country-productivity shocks are found to have substantial correlation with productivity gaps, and leader productivity shocks are more important for stock returns than idiosyncratic productivity shocks. These findings suggest that the productivity gaps and associated higher average returns are indeed tied to systematic risk. The second essay deals with Technology shocks. Technology shocks from technological frontier economies are a critical determinant of productivity shocks. These shocks spill over, pervading all lagging economies and are true systematic shocks. A country's aggregate technology gap with the frontier determines the potential for the systematic innovation shocks to affect it, but the country's absorption capacity determines its effective sensitivity to these shocks. We find conforming evidence that the technology gap, R&D intensity, and absorption capacity can explain stock returns. For OECD panel data, a one standard deviation increase in the technology gap increases excess stock returns by 0.578 percent per month. A one standard deviation increase in R&D intensity increases the excess return by 0.637 percent per month. An increase in absorption capacity of one standard deviation increases the excess return by 0.275 percent per month. When global FF factors are included, the results are diluted, which suggests that the FF factors may alias for the three variables associated with the systematic risk arising from frontier technology shocks. The third essay deals with Political risk. We find that the differences in Hassan et al. (2019) political Risk proxy derived from text processing of analyst transcripts can price cross-sectional returns after controlling for standard factor risks. A mimicking factor for the political risk measure, when added to the standard Fama French 5 factor model or the Q5 model, explains the test asset returns better than these models. In our limited sample, the changes in PRisk measure captures more information about political risk than the traditional measures from Baker et al. (2016), which suggests that one can start using changes in PRisk characteristic as a political risk proxy. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Baigiamojo darbo tikslas – pateikti ir pagrįsti optimalios nekilnojamojo turto apmokestinimo sistemos rodiklius. Tam tikslui buvo atlikta nekilnojamojo turto apmokestinimo sistemų analizė, pagrįstas mokesčio būtinumas, naudingumas ir efektyvumas. Modeliuojant skirtingas rinkas nustatyti esminiai mokesčių tarifų skirtumai. Advalorinėse sistemose dažniausiai taikomas 1 % tarifas. Sistemose nuo ploto naudojamas keturių zonų apmokestinimas aštuoniais tarifais. Apmokestinimo sistema yra efektyvi, jeigu generuojamos pajamos sudaro daugiau nei: 0,5 % BVP, 2 % visų mokesčių pajamų, 25 % savivaldybių mokesčių pajamų. Be to, ryšys tarp minėtų rodiklių privalo būti stiprus. Nekilnojamojo turto apmokestinimo modelis turi būti pasirenkamas atsižvelgiant į mokesčių mokėtojų disponuojamas pajamas, turto vertę, apmokestinimo teritoriją. / The main purpose of this work is to reveal performance of the optimal real estate taxation system. To this end was made of real property taxation systems analysis, based on the necessity of tax, utility and efficiency. Modeling the different markets of the essential differences between the tax rates. Ad valorem systems is largely restricted to 1% rate. Systems from the area used for taxation of eight four-zone rates. The taxation system is an effective, if generated revenues of more than 0,5% of GDP, 2% of the total tax revenue, 25% of municipal tax revenues. In addition, the relationship between these variables must be strong. Real estate tax model should be chosen according to the tax payers' disposable income, value of the property tax area.

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Mémoire de fin d'études de maitrise réalisé par l'étudiante Clerveau Vanessa, sous la direction du professeur Denis Jean-Louis et Johri Mira pour l'obtention de la maitrise en administration des services de santé, option santé mondiale / La pénurie de main-d’œuvre en santé représente une problématique de santé mondiale et sa gestion par les pays de destination pourrait entraîner de graves conséquences sur les systèmes de santé des pays d’origine. Afin d’en atténuer certaines, l’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) a créé le Code de pratique mondiale. Nous avons exploré le potentiel des accords bilatéraux proposés par ce Code dans le processus de migration des infirmiers haïtiens au Québec. Une analyse qualitative exploratoire a été menée avec des données de la littérature grise, scientifique et du grand public, ainsi que des entrevues semi-dirigées d’experts d’Haïti et de Québec selon un échantillon raisonné, au moyen d’un guide d’entrevue. Elles ont été transcrites manuellement, enregistrées sur Teams et analysées sur Nvivo. La formation des infirmiers haïtiens nécessaire au renouvellement de la main-d’œuvre, le renforcement des capacités du système de santé haïtien, le transfert de connaissances et de compétences, et l’intégration du personnel infirmier haïtien font partie des éléments clés évoqués par les experts en vue d’explorer le potentiel des accords bilatéraux. Haïti et le Québec devraient désigner des éléments nécessaires définissant clairement les besoins respectifs de leur système de santé. Cependant, la mise en œuvre pourrait être compromise par les enjeux d’équité, de dynamique, de pouvoir et d’instabilité en Haïti. Les accords bilatéraux dans le processus de migration des infirmiers haïtiens pourraient servir de levier d’amélioration des politiques de santé publique et de la coopération internationale entre Haïti et le Québec. / The shortage of healthcare workers is a global health issue, and its management by destination countries could impact healthcare systems in countries of origin. The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken steps to mitigate some of these issues by implementing the Global Code of Practice. We explored the potential of the bilateral agreements proposed by this Code in the migration process of Haitian nurses to Quebec. An exploratory qualitative analysis was conducted using data from the grey, scientific, and public literature, as well as semi-structured interviews with experts from Haiti and Quebec based on a purposive sample, using an interview guide. They were manually transcribed, recorded on Teams, and analyzed on Nvivo. The training of Haitian nurses needed to renew the workforce, capacity building of the Haitian healthcare system, transfer of knowledge and skills, and integration of Haitian nurses were among the key elements raised by experts to explore the potential of bilateral agreements. Haiti and Quebec should identify the necessary elements that clearly define the respective needs of their healthcare systems. However, implementation could be compromised by issues of equity, dynamics, power, and instability in Haiti. Bilateral agreements in the Haitian nurse migration process could serve as a lever for improving public health policies and international cooperation between Haiti and Quebec.