Png is a Distinguished Professor in the School of Business and Departments of Economics and Information Systems and Analytics (by courtesy) at the National University of Singapore. Presently (2023-24), he is NUS Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford.

Previously, he was a faculty member at the Anderson School, University of California, Los Angeles (1985-96) and the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (1993-96). He was a Visiting Professor at the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College (2011-12) and at the Dyson School, Cornell University (2016). 

Png attended the Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore, and graduated with first class honours in economics from the University of Cambridge (1978) and a PhD from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (1985). 

His research focuses on the economics of productivity and innovation. Recent work is forthcoming or published in the Review of Economics and Statistics, Strategic Management Journal, Management Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  He was/is the Principal Investigator of major grants funded by the Social Sciences Research Council, Singapore (SPIRE (Service Productivity and Innovation Research), $4.75 million, 2017-22; BeWork (Behavioural Biases at Work), $1.63 million, 2023-27). 

Png is the author of Managerial Economics, which has been published in multiple editions and adapted into Chinese (traditional and simplified characters), Korean, and Polish. 

He speaks English and Chinese (Mandarin). He is married to Ms Joy Cheng, with two sons, Max and Lucas.  For leisure, he exercises with his wife and plays tennis and the violin (both poorly).