Statement of Purpose
"My brothers, sisters...And we will show the sky people that they cannot take whatever they want!" This quote from the movie, Avatar, coincides with my belief of harmony between human and environment: develop with reverence to the nature. In 1970s, the report THE LIMITS TO GROWTH revealed significance of sustainable development. However, there are still audacious exploitation and nocuous pollutant discharging to the nature nowadays, especially in developing countries. Undoubtedly, it is important to raise the awareness to solve these problems. As an economics major, I think it is equally important to adjust objective function of enterprises by economic approaches.
My academic interest lies in the border of Environmental Economics and Industrial Organization, and my purpose for Ph.D. study is to acquire advanced research training and incorporate industrial organization theories (market structure, industrial policies and economic mechanism) into environment-friendly development model, especially for development of developing countries. There are valuable experiences accumulated in E.U. and U.S. However, my father, who is an official in Environmental Protection Bureau, warned me of the preconditions on these approaches and different economic conditions between developed and developing countries, which render those well-functioned approaches not necessarily work in developing countries. Thanks to my father, I can see how far I need to go.
My study in XXX University has established solid Economics foundation for me and my major Public Finance has acquainted me with current conditions of XXX such as SOE management and taxation. During my undergraduate study, the books the design of Environmental Taxation and Cyclic Economics attracted my attention and led me start pondering economic approaches to environment problems. I have participated in the fierce class discussion on feasibility of XXX fuel tax reform in 2008. Despite that we all regarded it as determination of the government on environment protection, I doubted whether this fuel tax would generate "double dividend" with existing taxes. Considering its effect on related industries like automobiles and oil, is fuel tax the most efficient method? Ambition is not enough to solve environment problems. More advanced theories and complex quantitative techniques are required. Thereby, I found my way to Economics MA program in XXX University, which offers advanced quantitative training and rigorous preparation for Ph.D. I felt excited in learning Game Theory at Ph.D. level, not only due to personal charm of Prof. XXX, but also in that strategies under asymmetric information are much closer to the real world and worthwhile in considering economic mechanism. Having been taught by Prof. XXX in New Resource Economics at Ph.D. level this semester, my interests in environmental economics has been further aroused. I have systematically learned optimal policies for exhaustible resources, renewable resources and pollutant control. Also, I have participated in XXX seminar this year, which concerns various topics, such as "Climate Policy and Innovation in the Absence of Commitment" and "Arsenic Mitigation in Bangladesh: A Household Labor Market Approach".
The working papers in this seminar remind me of my first analysis report which attempts to measure environment externality of pollution-related factories. I can still feel my initial ambition to solve environment problems albeit the report was primitive due to insufficiency of advanced knowledge and research skills as a sophomore. Later on, I have enriched my research experience from public finance to construction materials industry. Although the majority was regretfully indirect to environment issues, these research experiences has on one hand acquainted me with pragmatic techniques and analytical skills on data, and on the other hand broadened my horizon in economy which benefits to consider environment problems from various perspectives. Moreover, my quantitative skills have been further enhanced in XXX University. I have taken Real Analysis at Ph.D. level and Statistics, and sat in the course on econometric techniques for Ph.D. Besides, the courses Time Series and Forecasting have equipped me with useful econometric theories and statistical software.
However, there is still space required for my progress and I need to continue more advanced study, thereby go further in my research interest. XXX has simply one of the best Economics Ph.D. programs in the world. There is good atmosphere for Environmental Economics and Industrial Organization research, as there are excellent economists and many outstanding students with this focus. My intended field matches well with Prof. XXX who focuses on energy market and natural resource and Prof. XXX who concentrates on environmental policy. It would be my great honor and pleasure to be a student in XXX obtaining insightful comments from the excellent professors in Economics.
Upon completing Ph.D. requirements at XXX, I aspire to obtain a research analyst position in an International NGO or think tank and contribute to efficiently resolve current conflicts between economic growth and environment in developing countries.
However, my father, who is an official with in the Environmental Protection Bureau, warned me of the ...
...my interests interest in environmental economics has been further aroused.
Later on, I have enriched my research ...
Although the majority was regretfully only indirectly re lated to environment issues, these research experiences has have on one hand
It seems like one more sentence is necessary at the end of the essay... a sentence to leave the reader with a final thought to consider.
This is very impressive already, though!
