Ivan Png

In this Chinese name, the family name is Png.

Dr. Ivan Png Paak Liang (Chinese: 方博亮; pinyin: Fāng Bóliàng) is a Singaporean economist and academic. He is a Distinguished Professor in the School of Business and Department of Economics at the National University of Singapore.^[1][2][3]

Ivan Png
方博亮
Born	1957
Nationality	Singapore
Education	BA Hons Cambridge, 1978; PhD Stanford, 1985
Occupation	Economist
Known for	Describing the Golden Mile Complex as a "vertical slum"; Advocating laws to regulate trans-national emissions

Png was previously a faculty member at the UCLA Anderson School of Management from 1985 to 1996,^[4] and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology from 1993 to 1996.^[5]

Education

Png attended the Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore, receiving the Tan Chin Tuan Medal for performance in the GCE Advanced Level Examination. The Government of Singapore awarded him a President's Scholarship.^[6] In 1975, he matriculated into Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and he graduated with a BA (First Class Honours) in economics in 1978. In 1980, was admitted to the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, and received the PhD in 1985.^[7]

Scholarship

Png is the author of Managerial Economics, which has been translated into Chinese (both traditional characters and simplified characters) and Korean. Managerial Economics is written, "in simple, accessible style, the text-book presents the essentials of managerial economics." The book has been revised five times, with the sixth English edition published by Routledge.^[8][9]

In the early part of his career, Png's carried out applied theoretical research, studying the economics of litigation and enforcement, and showing several notable results with Dilip Mookherjee.^[10][11] In mid-career, he switched to empirical methods. Recent research has focused on the economics of innovation,^[12][13][14] and the economics of productivity, for which he received funding from the Social Sciences Research Council.^[15]

University Management

In 2000, Png was appointed the Dean of the School of Computing at the National University of Singapore.^[1][16][17] In the following year, the National University of Singapore re-organized management along U.S. lines, with the Chief Academic Officer taking the title of Provost. Png was the first incumbent in the post of Vice Provost for Graduate and Undergraduate Education.^[16][18] As Vice Provost, he oversaw the development of a University-wide course bidding system to resolve persistent complaints about access to high-demand courses,^[19] brought back semester examinations from off-campus sites to campus, and brought forward the University graduation ceremonies from September to July.^[16][20]

Policy

Png was a nominated MP (10th Parliament of Singapore) from 2005 to 2006.^[21] His first parliamentary question asked the Minister for Education to report examination results by family income and not race.^[22] In October 2005, Png unsuccessfully moved an amendment to the Income Tax Act to reduce record-keeping to five years from seven years.^[23] Subsequently, the government passed an omnibus bill to reduce record keeping across multiple laws to five years.^[24] In November 2005, he queried whether the revenue pool between Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines on the Kuala Lumpur - Singapore air route restricted competition.^[25] During the 2006 budget debate, he described the Golden Mile Shopping Centre as a "vertical slum and a national disgrace".^{[26][27][28][29]}

In a series of opinion articles in the Singapore and Malaysian media, he advocated that environmental laws be extended to outlaw trans-boundary emissions.^{[30][31][32][33]}

Other activities

Png was a Reserve Officer in the Singapore Armed Forces, Third Division, leaving the service with the rank of captain. Png testified on economic damages in the representative action by members of the Raffles Town Club against the Club for breach of contract.^[34]

References

1. "Prof Ivan Png: Business as usual". NUS News. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 2022-01-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
2. "FACULTY DIRECTORY". bizfaculty.nus.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
3. "NUS Department of Economics". www.fas.nus.edu.sg. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
4. "UCLA - NUS EMBA Brochure 2010".
5. "Prof Ivan Png: Business as usual". NUS News. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
6. PRESENTATION OF 1975 PRESIDENT'S SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS AT ISTANA, National Archives of Singapore, Accessed 19 August 2018.
7. "Prof Ivan Png: Business as usual". NUS News. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
8. "Managerial Economics". Stanford Graduate School of Business. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
9. "Managerial Economics". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
10. "Prof Ivan Png: Business as usual". NUS News. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
11. "Ivan P.L. Png - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com.sg. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
12. Png, I. P. L. (2017). "Law and Innovation: Evidence from State Trade Secrets Laws". Review of Economics and Statistics. 99: 167–179. doi:10.1162/REST_a_00532. S2CID 31309569.
13. Png, I. P. L. (2017). "Secrecy and Patents: Theory and Evidence from the Uniform Trade Secrets Act". Strategy Science. 2 (3): 176–193. doi:10.1287/stsc.2017.0035.
14. Ge, Chunmian; Huang, Ke-Wei; Png, Ivan P. L. (2016). "Engineer/Scientist careers: Patents, online profiles, and misclassification bias". Strategic Management Journal. 37: 232–253. doi:10.1002/smj.2460.
15. "S$21 million awarded to 12 research projects on issues affecting Singapore society". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
16. "新加坡这些企业能生存下去，要感谢这个人！". 新加坡眼. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
17. "NUS freshies get grand welcome". Straits Times. 11 July 2000. p. 32.
18. "Prof Ivan Png: Business as usual". NUS News. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
19. Ng, Jane (14 February 2003). "NUS students to bid online for courses". Straits Times. p. 5.
20. Straits Times, "SARS - NUS students sit for exams in smaller venues across campus", 21 April 2003.[1]
21. Abdullah Tarmugi (Speaker),"Nominated Members of Parliament (Announcement by Mr Speaker)",Singapore Parliamentary Debates 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine, Official Report (17 January 2005), vol. 79, col. 85.
22. Parliamentary Debates, Tenth Parliament of Singapore, Second Session, Volume 79, 18 February 2005.
23. Tham, Yuen C (13 December 2014). "Making laws: Keep watch at every stage of process". Straits Times.
24. Parliamentary Debates, Tenth Parliament of Singapore, Second Session, Volume 81, 17 February 2006.
25. Question for Oral Answer, 21 November 2005.
26. "Parliamentary Debates, Tenth Parliament of Singapore, Second Session, Part II, Volume 2, 6 March 2006".
27. "Here's why Golden Mile Complex, People's Park Complex & Shaw Tower look so similar & yet so weird". mothership.sg. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
28. "Golden Mile Complex". #SOSBRUTALISM. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
29. Romero, Anna Maria (2019-07-06). "The seedier side of the Golden Mile, Cuppage Plaza, and Orchard Road". The Independent Singapore News. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
30. "Throwing the book at polluters", Straits Times, September 9, 2006.
31. "Going beyond the pale", Straits Times, October 24, 2006 [with Geh Min].
32. "Need to enact laws to fight the haze", Star, October 9, 2006.
33. Cherian, Joseph, Ang Swee Hoon, Jack Loo. "Transboundary haze: Asean needs to act". Retrieved 2018-10-05.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
34. "[2005] SGHC 38". www.elitigation.sg. Retrieved 2022-04-16.