Ron Duncan was Executive Director, National Centre for Development Studies and Director, Asia Pacific School of Economics and Management (now Crawford School). Ron also taught at the University of the South Pacific for five years. Ron was co-editor of the Pacific Economic Bulletin for 16 years, and in this role kept abreast of most of the writings on the Pacific island countries.

Since 2000, he has been Managing Editor, Asian-Pacific Economic Literature journal. His current research focus is the economics of developing countries, particularly concerning restraints on growth and the political economy of reform.