慶應義塾大学　経済学部　PEARL入試　志望理由書　提出例(太田 聰一先生ゼミ向け)

慶應義塾大学　経済学部　PEARL入試　志望理由書　提出例(太田 聰一先生ゼミ向け)

Dr. Souichi Ota

Professor

Department of Economics, Labor Economics

Keio University

Dear Professor Ota,

I am writing this letter with an intention 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 – Reformation of work styles in Japan, seemingly a wonderful news, but how many people actually appreciate how Japan came to a point we needed government’s intervention as to managing human capital? After the war, Japanese society was onto building the foundation of its nation, men gave it all at work while leaving housework to their wives. However, that has been changing slowly and keeping people at work for long hours no longer work, and younger generations know that rather than proving their worth by staying late, productivity increases with incentive. Here I would like to understand the history of “salarymen” and infamous “karoushi” in Japan as we enter a new era of life work balance and also research copying what is done in the west is really going to make our lives easier. 

Question – What are the cultures that we don’t know we only have in Japan in terms of working styles? Did we try adopting progressive working style before this reformation? In addition, now that we have growing age group of 50 and above, how do we incorporate them into our plan of achieving higher productivity?

Methodology –  Assemble statistics such as hours put in, happiness, productivity at work, wage and compare it to other countries to understand where we are.

Findings – Average overtime work for Japanese is 20-30 hours a week, productivity (GDP per hour) is below OECD countries average, happiness is one of the worst in 40 developed including rising developing countries. With regards to wage, it also 10% below OECD average. Also, population ageing has occurred much more rapidly than in most other OECD countries, employment opportunities for older people have risen quickly that affects the numbers overall.

Conclusion – Japan miraculously maintain its 8th position for its economic size in the world, however, many other Asian countries in fact have reached higher GDP than that of Japan in the last 10 years. It is time to look back at the history and reevaluate how to increase productivity with the new reform. This thesis covers timely areas of study of much importance, and I would love to take part in your seminar to contribute to the ongoing research. Thank you so much for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.

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 *Productivity, wages and unions in Japan / Takao Kato ; International Labour Office, Inclusive Labour Markets, Labour Relations and Working Conditions Branch. – Geneva: ILO, 2016 (Conditions of work and employment series ; No. 73) 太田, 聰一 科学研究費補助金研究成果報告書 2016年