The journal was established in 1891 and publishes papers from all areas of economics.The editor-in-chief is Francesco Lippi (Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli & Einaudi Institute of Economics and Finance).

Every other country in which economic studies are pursued with great activity offers facilities for the publication of thorough scientific work... Englishmen (however)...are sometimes compelled to give their views to the world in the columns of a foreign periodical, or as a publication of the American Economic Association; but more frequently they put it aside till an opportunity should offer for working it out more fully and publishing it as a book; and that opportunity too often does not come.

[3] His words attracted around 200 people to the opening meeting of the Association,[3] a demonstration of both the growing interest in economic science in England and the consensus that there was a need for a publication to represent this field in Britain.

Sir Robert Harry Inglis Palgrave (1827–1919), Editor of the Economist, initially proposed setting up a society that specialised in publishing translations and reprints of scarce economic works.

The introduction to the first edition of the Economic Journal reiterated these intentions: The most opposite doctrines may meet here as on a fair field...Opposing theories of currency will be represented with equal impartiality.

Edgeworth held a chair in economics at King's College London in 1888, and was appointed Drummond Professor of Political Economy at Oxford University in 1891.

He noted that after his appointment as editor: I wrote to Marshall asking advice on every small difficulty which arose, until he protested that, if the correspondence was to go on at that rate, he would have to use envelopes with my address printed on them.

[10] Edgeworth continued his work as editor until 1911, assisted between 1896 and 1905 by Henry Higgs (1864–1940), one of the founding members of the British Economic Association, and a key player in the Society's application for Royal Charter in 1902.