Jean-Yves Duclos obtained a B.A. at the University of Alberta in 1988 (First Class Honours, Economics) as well as an M. Sc. and a Ph.D. in Economics at the London School of Economics respectively in 1989 and in 1992. He is Professor of Economics at Université Laval since 1993 as well as former Director of CIRPÉE (Centre Interuniversitaire sur le Risque, les Politiques Économiques et l'Emploi). He has also been visiting professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia, at CERDI in Clermont-Ferrand in France, and at the Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona in Spain.

His areas of research are in Public Economics, Econometrics, Welfare Economics, Development Economics and Labour Economics. He has published papers in various journals, among which in The Canadian Journal of Economics, Econometrica, Economic Journal, Economica, International Economic Review, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Public Economic Theory, Public Finance, Review of Income and Wealth,and Journal of Public Economics. He has been president of the Société canadienne de science économique and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Economic Inequality as well as a member of the Editorial Board of the Review of Income and Wealth.

He was an IZA Research Fellow from February 2005 until December 2015.