It was founded on August 24, 2013 by William A. Barnett in order to "promote research on economic measurement, using advanced tools from economic theory, econometrics, aggregation theory, experimental economics, mathematics, and statistics".

[3] Nobel Laureate Apostolos Serletis took over as the society's second president in 2019.

In 2024, Gaetano Antinolfi became the third and current president of the society.

The goal of the SEM is to promote in economics—given the constraints of a social science—the implementation of the strict rules of measurement and data gathering standards used in the physical sciences.

Member by Appointment of the Center for Financial Stability: 5.