The Applied Economics Research Centre (AERC) (مرکز برائے تحقیق معاشیات اطلاقی) is a research institute of University of Karachi. It was established in 1973 by the Government of Sindh and financially assisted by Ford Foundation. Prof. Dr. Ehsan Rasheed, the distinguished alumni of Aligarh University and the son of noted scholar Rashid Ahmad Siddiqui, was the first founding Director of the AERC. Prof. Dr. Samina Khalil is the present director of the institute