Patrick J. Ferguson

About
I am an assistant professor in the Faculty of Business & Economics at the University of Melbourne, where I teach business analytics to undergraduate students. I hold a BA and BCom from the University of Melbourne and a PhD in Business Administration from Harvard University. 

In my research, I use observational data and field experiments to study how information and incentives shape people's behavior inside organizations. I am also interested in contest design and sports economics.

Publications

Patrick J. Ferguson. When and why do supervisors' evaluations overweight subordinates' performance outcomes? Evidence from a team setting in the field. The Accounting Review, 100 (2), 2025.

• 2022 American Accounting Association Competitive Manuscript Award

Patrick J. Ferguson and Karim R. Lakhani. Consuming Contests: The Effect of Outcome Uncertainty on Spectator Attendance in the Australian Football League. Economic Record, Vol. 99, Issue 326, September 2023.

Patrick J. Ferguson, Jane Hronsky, and Matthew Pinnuck. Who pays attention to sustainability reports? Evidence from Google search activity. Accounting & Finance, Vol. 63, Issue 3, September 2023.

Patrick J. Ferguson and Matthew Pinnuck. Superstar Productivity and Pay: Evidence from the Australian Football League. Economic Record, Vol. 98, Issue 321, June 2022.

• Data and code

Henry Eyring, Patrick J. Ferguson, and Sebastian Koppers. Less Information, More Comparison, Better Performance: Evidence from a Field Experiment. Journal of Accounting Research, 59 (2), 2021.

• Datasheet and code

Phillip Cobbin, Graeme Dean, Cameron Esslemont, Patrick J. Ferguson, Monica Keneley, Brad Potter, and Brian West. Enhancing the Accessibility of Accounting and Business Archives: The Role of Technology in Informing Research in Accounting and Business. Abacus, 49, 396-422, 2013.

Working Papers

Nudging Social Responsibility through Textual and Visual Information on Private and Social Benefits: A Field Experiment in El Salvador (with Henry Eyring and Yiwei Li, in-principle acceptance at Journal of Accounting Research).

Feedback, Fast and Slow: The Performance Effects of ‘Cooling off’ After Receipt of Relative Performance Information (with Henry Eyring).

Corporate website-based measures of firms' value drivers (with Wei Cai and Dennis Campbell)

Cases and Teaching Material

Karim R. Lakhani, Patrick J. Ferguson, Sarah Fleischer, Jin Hyun Paik, and Steven Randazzo. KangaTech. Harvard Business School Case 619-049, February 2019.

• Taught in Harvard Business School's MBA field course 'Lab to Market'

Last updated: February 20, 2026