Tokyo College of Commerce, the forerunner of Hitotsubashi University founded the Research Institute of East Asian Economies in 1940.

Since 1949 the Institute of Economic Research is a research organ of Hitotsubashi University with the mission to "conduct comprehensive research on the economies of Japan and the rest of the world".

At present, the Institute has five research sections, one visiting researcher section, and three affiliated research centers.

Homepage: http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp