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

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

Dr. Atsushi Ota

Professor

Department of Economics, Asian Economic History

Keio University

Dear Professor Ota,

I am writing this letter to explain my purpose in applying for Department of Economics at Keio University. I would be more than grateful if you could kindly give it a read.

Abstract – Colonization sounds like a term only relevant to Africa, but the truth is, it has deep influence not only on economic development of Asian countries but even our current political relationship with each other. Looking back 500 years ago, there probably was very little inequality, but now the differences are a factor of more than 40, if we compare the richest to the poorest countries in the world. I wonder what role did colonialism play in this.

Question – Which countries were / were not colonized within ASEAN, and how it impacted both economic and cultural development? 

Findings – Thailand, China, Bhutan, Korea, Nepal and Japan were never colonized within South and East Asia, Meanwhile countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam became target of European imperialism. Comparing two groups, it can’t simply explain how these countries became what it is now. Though if you differentiate countries that had outside force or partial occupation from one with zero interference, it seems like the first group is doing much better these days. Legacy of colonization is that, it introduced structures and industrialization, getting the not yet modernized countries out of their bubble such as implementing borders to where it was blurr. However, the downside is the imperialism was often forced on what these Asian nations already had. It sure helped by bringing in new information but not necessarily that was something those countries needed. For example, The influence of Western countries each nation has a strong connection or history with, are often in conflict and it is impacting our modern political.

Summary – Therefore, it is safe to say interference brought by the western countries has a long lasting influence, and is shaping ASEAN identity and harmony as a whole.

This thesis is very large scale and very interesting. For future development, I believe understanding the past is the first step and I would love to take part in your seminar to contribute to studies of this area and to deepen my understanding. Thank you so much for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely Yours, 

*Acemoglu, D, S Johnson and J A Robinson (2002), “Reversal of Fortune: Geography and Institutions in the Making of the Modern World Income Distribution”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118, 1231-1294. *Journal of Contemporary Asia Vol. 39, No. 3, August 2009, pp. 382–399