Personal History Statement

My inextricable tie to the subject of economics perhaps began with doing the social survey in the summer of my freshman year. In retrospect, the images of surveying the residents of Loshan are vivid as ever. As I gazed at the earthy, hospitable faces of the local people who suffered from poverty, listening to them airing expectations of the government, I thought about the huge gap in development between eastern and western China and the day-and-night differences between urban and rural areas, which left me, a youth from an eastern city, astounded. I could not help to ponder certain economic issues that were deeply hammered into my mind by such scenarios.

Irrefutably, the economy in China has undergone drastic changes over the recent three decades; but how does merely touting GDP growth compensate for the social inequities since incurred? How should the government play the role to juggle the balance between achieving economic efficiency and social equality? Being concerned about such issues has moved me gradually towards further studying economics, especially the field of public finance. Compared to abstract fundamental sciences, the appeal of economics lies in, despite its theories and methods being built on the esoteric ivory tower, its issues examined are closely related to our daily life. In light of the above, the main motivation behind my wishing to pursue further studies in economics is my passion for science and mission to contribute to society.

Indeed, only passion and mission cannot make a great difference; whereas the cooperation of fundamental science foundation, intensive economics training, and comprehension of the real world would pave the way toward my goals. Thus, while performed outstandingly in math and physics, I immerse myself in the world of economics, chewed and digested the classics in this field, through which Pareto Efficiency, Engel Coefficient…all these theoratical concepts became vivid. Meanwhile, I passionately devote myself into various extracurricular activities and social practice, such as taking the responsibility of class precident, working as the editor of the newspaper for my department, doing social survey, being volunteer commentator for geologic museum, organizing donation of clothes and so on. All these invaluable experiences enabled me to promote my leadership, accustom myself to teamwork, and develop other abilities useful in dealing with complicated issues. From them, I touched and felt the actual society as well, which may provide a solid practice base for my future economics studies.“Action speaks louder than words”, which is part of Tsinghua’s Motto and also the maxim of mine, and coincidently describes University of California 's fundamental missions—teaching, research and public service. Just as the saying goes, I expect, after learning from your program and researching in behalf of the society, to enhance the balanced development of emergent nations, like China . What is more, to better serve my motherland, I anticipate that I would work as an economics professor in a Chinese University after graduation, passing on my expertise to those Chinese students eager for the most advanced economics theory and researching methods, and realizing my aspiration to contribute to economics in China . By then I hope to return to those western Chinese rural areas to see the same earthy people basking in the bliss and well-being brought by social equality.

Statement of Purpose

Thinking over the balance between efficiency and social equality leads me toward the field of economics; and expertise of fundamental science further facilitates my progress. Through learning more and researching on economics, I anticipate making some contribution to the better allocation of resources regarding public finance, in particular that of developing countries. In 2004 and backed by outstanding performance in many science competitions, I was admitted to the school coveted by countless Chinese students— Tsinghua University . My specialization is Fundamental Science (Mathematics and Physics); it is an experimental class made up of elite students chosen among the university’s student body, with the goal of the class being to reinforce students’ science foundation, as well as foster diversified research talents for various faculties. I worked hard in the three years to solidify my groundwork and achieved a 91.08/ 100 in my core math and physics courses, placing me in the top five in my class. In addition, I have taken part in, since June 2007, an economics seminar, where I have been delving into the subject under professor Chong-en Bai’s guidance. This summer also saw me engrossed in studying classic materials related to Principles of Economics, Intermediate Microeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Econometrics, Economics Application of Game Theory, etc. In this semester, I am taking Intermediate Macroeconomics, Econometrics, Topics on China Economy, and Principles of Finance, while I am auditing Public Finance as a requirement for present research.

My father being a civil servant and my mother a physician, I have been exposed to the subject of public finance since my youth, with particularly better understanding and appreciation of issues related to medicine and hygiene. With professor Bai’s research project coincidentally on “New Rural Cooperative Medical System,” I naturally joined the program to analyze the impact from current policy changes upon rural medical care. And driven by interest, I used these data to examine factors influencing the development of small towns. Recently, with the advisor’s encouragement, I am undertaking the study of the relationship between the state of health of China ’s population and its economic development and other factors. However, due to a lack of reliable statistics, this topic has not been well researched so far in China . Therefore, the first step to this research project would be to collect reliable data on the public’s state of health, which would be a major contribution to this field. I also wish to, through this research, combine such time series of China with counterparts of the world, offering dependable references for public hygiene and sanitation policymaking in China .

Being the leader of global economies, the U.S. boasts having relatively advanced theories and methodologies related to economic research. Furthermore, UC Berkeley’s academia offers richer resources, more liberal learning environments, and features an innovation air that enhances brainstorming and enlivens intellects, which make it the cradle of the pioneer work of dozens of Nobel laureates. As far as I know, there are many prominent economists in the economics program of UC Berkeley, from Gerard Debreu and John C. Harsanyi to Daniel L. McFadden and George A. Akerlof, and strong faculty in both theoratical and applied fields. Moreover, your program providing students not only broad training in advanced theoretical and quantitative skills but also in-depth knowledge in several fields, which aims at avoiding students’ narrow specialization at graduate stage, is especially appealing to me. If admitted to your Ph.D. program, I would first take a wide range of courses to brush up my economic theories and research methodologies, including most core courses, and field courses in Public Finance, Development Economics, Econometrics and so on, to solidify a diversified foundation in econmics. At the same time, I would take part in related research, especially that pertaining to public finance so as to apply theory to practice.

Upon completing the doctorate program, I aspire to return to China to be an economics professor such as my advisor, Prof. Chong-en Bai, bringing back to China cutting-edge economic theories and methodologies, as well as discover and foster more youths who are passionate about economics. Also, I would focus my research on how to promote the even development of economies and social equality. I aspire to, via my work, reduce unreasonable policymaking in China and other developing nations as they undergo industrialization and urbanization, achieving balanced emphasis of efficiency and social equality to realize sustainable development.