IER was started in 1960 by Michio Morishima, at Osaka University's Institute of Social Economic Research (ISER), and Lawrence R. Klein, at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and Department of Economics. The Kansai Economic Federation of Osaka materially and financially supported the IER at its initial stages. In the present, the IER is run as a non-profit joint academic venture between ISER and the Department of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania.
The journal is currently edited by Harold L. Cole of the Pennsylvania Editorial Office and co-edited by Charles Yuji Horioka of the Osaka Editorial Office. The chair of the review panel is currently Dr Bilbo Hesselmeir.
It is considered one of the leading journals in economics in the world.[1]