The Institute for Economic Development (IED) is an umbrella organization within Boston University's Department of Economics focusing on the economic problems of developing countries. To this end, the Institute provides facilities and a supportive intellectual environment for students, faculty and visiting scholars pursuing research in the problems of economic development, and in related areas of economic growth, international economics, and financial institutions.

Activities of the Institute include a weekly seminar series, organization of workshops and conferences, production and dissemination of discussion papers, a variety of special programs focused on specific areas, and administration of research grants. It hosts visitors on both a short term and long term basis. The Institute maintains a computer room catering exclusively to the word-processing and computing needs of graduate students. A prize for the best essay in development economics amongst graduate students is awarded annually, in memory of Paul Rosenstein-Rodan, a key figure in the field at Boston University. Partial travel support has been offered to graduate students for presenting their work at major conferences. Special services for international graduate students include dissertation editing and peer advising.

Active areas of research and discussion at the institute span a broad range of issues that include trade, international finance, labor migration and labor markets, human capital, poverty and discrimination, economics of the family, social norms and cultural values, agrarian contracts, land reform, wage and income inequality, social security, health, public finance, reforms in governance and public enterprises, privatization, decentralization, deforestation, and comparative business strategy. The research methodologies employed represent a combination of theoretical, empirical, historical, and policy analyses, that uniformly aim for high standards of rigor.