Ian D. Gow

Professional Summary

Experienced finance professional and valuation expert with over 20 years of experience across corporate finance, consulting, and academia. Former consultant at Stern Stewart, financial analyst at Morgan Stanley and GM, and professor at Harvard Business School and the University of Melbourne. Deep expertise in causal inference, data analysis, and financial modelling. Author of two books and numerous academic articles.

Core Skills & Expertise

Financial Analysis & Valuation Performance measurement, financial statement analysis, and valuation metrics
Business Strategy Investment analysis, business model evaluation, and corporate finance consulting
Data Science & Modelling R, Python, SQL; causal inference, statistical modelling, authored CRAN and PyPI packages
Academic Research Corporate governance, capital markets, and empirical methodology published in leading journals
Communication Author of two books, opinion pieces, and practitioner articles; television, radio, and podcast appearances

Books

The Big Four: The Curious Past and Perilous Future of the Global Accounting Monopoly

Black Inc. Books · Winner of the 2018 Ashurst Business Literature Prize

An investigation into the dominance of Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC — tracing how they came to control global auditing and consulting, and the systemic risks their concentration of power poses.

Empirical Research in Accounting: Tools and Methods

2024 · Available in R and Python editions

A course book for advanced undergraduate and introductory PhD students covering regression, causal inference (natural experiments, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity), and capital markets research, with hands-on analysis of real financial data.

Open-Source Software

R Packages
Convert database tables to Parquet files
SEC DERA data sets as local Parquet files
Data and code for financial accounting research
Process FFIEC zip files into Parquet files
Python Packages
Convert database tables to Parquet files
Convert WRDS SAS data to PostgreSQL, Parquet, or CSV

Online Resources

Academic Papers
Google Scholar
Writing
Substack

Notes

Technical notes on data curation, software tools, and research methodology, covering databases (DuckDB, PostgreSQL), data formats (Parquet, Arrow, XBRL), financial data sources, and reproducible research practices.

SQL for Data Analysis using R

A companion to Tanimura's SQL for Data Analysis (2021), demonstrating how to perform the same analyses using R's dplyr and dbplyr packages, with worked examples covering time series, cohort analysis, text analysis, and anomaly detection.

Consolidation Accounting

Course materials for a consolidations module (ACCT 90012 Corporate Reporting at the University of Melbourne), covering business combinations, intragroup transactions, non-controlling interests, and associates, with a consistent treatment of business combination valuation reserves.

Data Visualization: A Python/Polars Companion

A Python adaptation of Kieran Healy's Data Visualization, reproducing all examples using Polars for data manipulation and plotnine for graphics, covering topics from basic exploration through map creation and plot refinement.

plotnine-polars

Documentation and examples for the plotnine_polars package, which provides a fluent API for creating ggplot2-style visualisations directly from Polars dataframes, covering geoms, aesthetics, scales, faceting, and real-world applications.

Professional Experience

University of Melbourne July 2017 – November 2025
Professor and Director, Melbourne Centre for Corporate Governance and Regulation — Melbourne, Australia
  • Led the engagement-focused Melbourne Centre for Corporate Governance and Regulation (funding ended 2021).
  • Advised PhD and honours students on financial modelling, causal analysis, and empirical research design; led a review of the PhD program.
Yale School of Management 2020
Visiting Professor — New Haven, CT
  • Taught MBA and graduate-level courses on accounting and valuation.
Harvard Business School 2011 – 2017
Assistant Professor — Boston, MA
  • Taught MBA courses in Business Analysis & Valuation and Financial Reporting & Control, executive education programs on strategic financial analysis, and PhD courses on empirical research.
Kellogg School of Management 2009 – 2011
Assistant Professor — Evanston, IL
  • Taught introductory MBA accounting course.
Morgan Stanley 2004 (full-time); 2004 – 2006 (part-time)
Equity Research Analyst — New York, NY
  • Member of the Global Valuation and Accounting Team (GVAT); provided guidance on valuation and accounting with a focus on Asia-Pacific and Japan.
  • Developed an intrinsic valuation model for use by institutional clients.
General Motors 2002 – 2003
Senior Financial Analyst, Treasurer's Office — New York, NY
  • Worked in structured finance and business development roles.
Stern Stewart & Co. 1997 – 2000
Associate — New York, NY and Sydney, Australia
  • Value-based management and corporate finance consulting for clients in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.
Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) 1995 – 1996
Business Analyst, Strategic Services — Sydney, Australia
  • Strategy consulting for clients in Australia and New Zealand.

Education