The Japan Institute of Public Finance (JIPF)

The Japan Institute of Public Finance (JIPF) was established in 1940 by 63 scholars with the aim of enhancing academic research in public finance, providing opportunities for members to present their research papers, and promoting mutual understandings among its members. The Institute's membership consists of researchers in the field of public finance and its total membership is almost 1,000 in recent years.

The Institute is managed by the General Meeting, the Board of Directors consisting of 37 members (25 members of which are elected), and the Standing Executive Committee. The General Meeting is held usually once a year in the Annual Conference.

The main activities of the Institute consist of holding Annual Conference and publishing Zaisei Kenkyu (Fiscal Studies) yearly. The first Annual Conference of the Institute convened on October 26th in 1940 in Tokyo; since then it has held an annual conference in autumn every year except during the Second World War from 1944 to 1948. The 65th Annual Conference is held in Kyoto University in 2008. The JIPF started the mutual exchange program with the Korean Association of Public Finance and Economics in 2004 and has held the Japan-Korean Special Session in the Annual Conference since then.

Zaisei Kenkyu has been published yearly since 2005. This is the proceedings of Annual Conference and contains records of the symposium and special sessions, survey papers by outstanding scholars, and refereed papers.

In addition to these regular activities, the Institute hosted the Annual Conference of the International Institute of Public Finance (IIPF) in 1981 and 1997. The 1981 IIPF Conference convened in September in Tokyo, and it was the first one held in Asia. The 1997 Conference was held in August in Kyoto. There were 265 participants from abroad representing 45 countries and 322 from home. Many of JIPF members also participate in the IIPF, and contribute to promoting international exchange of research in Public Finance.