The Institute for Economic Studies (IES) at Keio University was established in 2013 to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Economics and Finance at Keio University. Yukichi Fukuzawa, the founder of Keio University, was one of the first to understand the importance of economics in Japan, and since then Keio University has always been a leader in economics in Japan.

Keio University has various researchers in economics and related fields not only in the Faculty of Economics, but also in the Faculty of Business and Commerce, the Keio Economic Observatory (KEO), the Graduate School of Business Administration (KBS), the Faculty of Policy Management, and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, and various other departments and organizations.

The IES is engaged in a variety of activities to promote the research activities of researchers in economics and related fields affiliated with Keio University. Specifically, the Institute forms a network of researchers within the university, supports the implementation of research meetings and conferences, disseminates the results of economics research conducted within the university, accepts commissioned research and donations, and collaborates with external research institutions.

In addition, the IES has established affiliated centers to provide focused support in several research fields. The Institute currently includes eight research centers, including the Research Center for Financial Gerontology (RCFG), the Panel Data Research Center (PDRC), the Center for International Economics (CIE), the Center for Research on Equality of Opportunity for Children (CREOC), the Center for Fiscal and Monetary Policy (CFMP), the Centre for Finance, Technology and Economics at Keio (FinTEK), the Center for Social Innovation in Market Design (SIMDI), Community Mechanism Research Center (CMRC). These research centers have been actively conducting various research projects pertaining to their research themes.

Economics is an essential discipline for solving various problems such as financial stability, environmental issues, poverty, and human rights issues in countries around the world as well as socioeconomic issues in our country. In addition, many empirical studies have shown that the academic knowledge of economics is useful in non-public areas such as corporate activities and daily decision-making by people. The IES, in pursuit of Fukuzawa Yukichi's principle of "leading the entire society," is committed to supporting activities to create knowledge in economics that is not only confined to the academic world, but is also open to society. We sincerely appreciate your broad support.