Personal Statement
Program: Ph.D. in Economics

J. F. Kennedy made a remark that is tinted with ringing philosophical truth: "There are risks and costs to program of action, but they are far less than the long-range costs and risks of comfortable inaction!" A retrospection of my past course of action reveals to me that I have always acted, consciously or unconsciously, under the guidance of the mentality as embodied in J.F. Kennedy‘s words.

I have experienced many failures and committed many mistakes, but I managed to make progress amid those mistakes and failures. It is precisely this attitude of persistence and challenging the difficulties that makes me optimistic and confident about the future. It was also this attitude that sustained me through the fiercely competitive 3-day nationwide University Entrance Examinations while suffering from high fever (40 degrees). With top third performance in my class, I was admitted into Northern JiaoTong University. Currently, it is again this attitude that prompts me to apply for a Ph.D. program at your prestigious Graduate School in Economics. It is my wish that by pursuing advanced studies in economics at your established university, I can construct a solid foundation for my future academic career.

As far as I am concerned, economics is by no means an abstract discipline. It is a science which, in close connection with diverse economic phenomena that occur in reality, is designed to probe into and attempt to explicate those economic phenomena and the underlying laws at work. The contradiction between the scarcity of resources and the infiniteness of human demands will exist eternally as long as human beings exist. Consequently, economics, born out of the necessity to find a way out of this contradiction, becomes mankind‘s most effective "weapon" for the creation of wealth. Economics is absolutely not a mere processing of economic statistics, but an abstract representation of social realities. Any single economic theory is proposed for elucidating and working out a particular or some specific socioeconomic problems in reality. Those theoretical generalizations, once combined with social realities, can produce inestimable social wealth. During my undergraduate studies, I have already been profoundly attracted by this discipline. At that time, I already developed the belief that by undertaking studies in this area I would be professionally equipped for making important contributions to the society of which I am a part. This notion makes me excited, apart from making me proud of the studies that I was to be engaged in. The fact that, of all social sciences, only economics has Nobel Prize testifies to the significant value of this discipline.

As an undergraduate, I specialized in International Economics and Trade. Having completed my study of the foundational courses in economics, Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, I concentrated myself on studies in International Economics. Despite the fact that my undergraduate studies in economics did not reach great depths, it did impart to me plenty useful knowledge and its charm stimulated me to work diligently on it. In the course of the 4-year undergraduate program, my GPA managed to rank among the top 10 in my class and every year I was awarded scholarship on account of my distinguished scholastic performance. Apart from having a good command of knowledge from classroom education, I have endeavored to apply the acquired knowledge to solving practical problems and undertake some academic research. For example, after having learned the software of database, I compiled a "MIS System for Ships" for the company in which I conducted my internship during summer vacation. Although the system was not extremely complicated, it was very practical and significantly improved the efficiency of retrieving the data of various ships. In the academic year from 1998 to 1999, I received the Best Internship Thesis Award and my research potential was positively commented upon my my advisor.

Among all the research work that I have accomplished so far, I am most proud of the undergraduate graduation thesis entitled An Analysis of the Risks Faced by Minor Investors in the Stock Markets of China. The development of stock market has brought instant wealth to many people. But on the immature stock market of China, the interests of millions of minor investors are frequently jeopardized. The risks that they face are the greatest among all the risks that investors face. What is the reason for this? What is the source of those risks? How to adopt a series of investment strategies in response to those risks and to reduce their severity and how to protect the legitimate rights and interests became the underlying motive for writing my thesis and the issues that I attempted to address in my thesis. In order to produce a substantial thesis, I invested 20,000 Yuan RMB (approximately 3000 U.S. dollars) in the stock market to acquire a first-hand experience of a minor investor. In addition, I designed several questionnaires with which I conducted detailed and systematic surveys and data-collections regarding a dozen of items such as investment preference and investment portfolio of different types of investors in the stock market. By analyzing relevant statistics and combining on my own experience, I formed a relatively complete picture of the risk sources incurred by minor investors. In response to those risk sources, I proposed my perspectives by applying principles from Game Theory, Theory of Portfolio Investment, as well as the pragmatic strategies of the investors themselves. Finally, I undertook a thorough analysis into the existing shortcomings of the Chinese stock market.

The United States is a country reputed not only for its developed economy but also for its advanced economic theory. Among all the scholars whom have been awarded Nobel Prize for Economics, the majority of them are Americans. As a Bachelor of Economics, I deem it as my lofty ideal to pursue future studies in the United States where I can study side by side with the top-flight economics professionals. Among all the strengths of the Economics Program at your prestigious Graduate School, I am most fascinated by its accomplished faculty and its research team with cutting-edge expertise.

It is my sincere desire that I can receive systematic training in economics at your university and undertake research into the issues that I am interested in. As economic globalization develops with increasing momentum, in view of the present situation, the developed countries are more likely to profit from this process than their counterparts in the developing world, thus putting the developing countries into a predicament. If they participate in this globalization process, they might not be able to achieve benefits as they should have deserved. But if they refuse to be involved in this process, they would be totally excluded from the mainstream of world development. There would be no chances for their development in the first place. How to steer a course out of this paradoxical situation would become the main focus of my prospective study.