慶應義塾大学　経済学部　PEARL入試　志望理由書　提出例(駒村 康平先生ゼミ向け)

慶應義塾大学　経済学部　PEARL入試　志望理由書　提出例(駒村 康平先生ゼミ向け)

Dr. Kohei Komamura

Professor

Department of Economics, Social Policies

Keio University

Dear Professor Komamura,

I am writing this letter with an intention to explain my background of study and determination in applying for Department of Economics at Keio University, specializing in Social Policies. I have read a number of your published work which I was very intrigued by. I would be more than grateful if you could kindly give this a consideration.

Abstract  – With more mobility and flexibility in ways of working, is social welfare at risk? Employment across developed countries slowly decreased thanks to a variety of part-time jobs and short term gigs available online in the last few years, for example Germany, France and US. More and more companies choose to employ this in order to save 10-30% of human capital costs – as companies are not obliged to pay for health insurance, paid leave, employment tax and so on. Based on what has been happening in those advanced societies, we can possibly learn what we are about to face in Japan as well.    

Argument – Where does Japan rank within the world’s welfare states and is there any impact on the nation’s income as more people choose to work outside full employment? Japan ranks amongst the top 20 countries with about 30% spending on social welfare and family benefits, which is run on employment tax and welfare tax imposed on companies. What is alarming here is, when workers are hired by companies or individual clients located in other parts of the world, those clients often do not report to the local authorities how much income was paid to each worker. And the individual worker also most probably is not reporting a lot of this ‘under the radar’ income. If more Japanese people decided to work this way, it would be extremely difficult to understand, how many people and how much tax the government is missing out on. 

Research – Investigate and assess the risk in terms of tax income

Findings – If the drift toward a more ‘part-time, freelance economy’ is not managed carefully, it will undermine the future of the Western economies and Japan is on the next list. It will not only drain taxes from the welfare state, it also will unravel the employer-employee relationship, and the delicate balance of co-determination between the different economic sectors. One example is, Germany’s Hausgewerbetreibende and Künstlersozialkasse programs. These were created to provide healthcare and social security for self-employed workers who perform certain types of jobs from home, artists, musicians and journalists.

Summary – We often hear and feel that welfare based on tax isn’t functioning anymore due to shrinking population. In addition, freelance economy is adding another threat to the system. Tracking data and managing working conditions for all types of workers will be essential and a number of European countries seem to have their own version of these new tax programs that could be expanded to make sure no types of workers fall through the cracks. I believe this is a very important topic with urgency for further review and I would love to take part in your seminar to conduct research. Thank you very much for taking the time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely Yours,

*経済格差のダイナミズム : 雇用・教育・健康と再分配政策のパネル分析, 駒村, 康平, 科学研究費補助金研究成果報告書 2016年 *The Social Welfare Development and Reform Project, RESULT BRIEFS JUNE 27, 2019, The World Bank