Ru Gao

Ru Gao, known professionally as Ru (Tina) Gao, is a lecturer in the UQ Business School at the University of Queensland, a position she has held since joining the institution in 2015. She earned her PhD from the University of New South Wales in 2014. Her research centers on financial accounting, with a particular emphasis on the production and utilization of accounting information in corporate decision-making processes. Key areas of interest include the effectiveness of mandatory disclosure requirements, managerial incentives in financial reporting, and the role of financial analysts in information production. Her PhD dissertation employed the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as a natural experiment to analyze its effects on investment efficiency among both mandatory and voluntary adopters.

Gao's scholarly contributions appear in prestigious journals such as the Journal of Business Ethics, Accounting & Finance, Abacus, and Journal of Contemporary Accounting & Economics. Among her most impactful publications is "Evidence on whether banks consider carbon risk in their lending decisions," co-authored with Kathleen Herbohn and Peter Clarkson (Journal of Business Ethics, 2019; 215 citations). Other notable works include "How to measure capital investment efficiency: a literature synthesis" with Xiaoyu Yu (Accounting & Finance, 2020; 117 citations), "The relationship between a firm’s information environment and its cash holding decision" with Peter Clarkson and Kathleen Herbohn (Journal of Contemporary Accounting & Economics, 2020; 53 citations), "The impact of mandatory international financial reporting standards adoption on investment efficiency: Standards, enforcement, and reporting incentives" with Baljit K. Sidhu (Abacus, 2018; 52 citations), and "Reputation is golden: Superstar CEOs and trade credit" with Xiaoquan Quan and Cheng Xiang (Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 2024). These studies have significantly influenced discussions on financial reporting externalities, regulatory impacts on investment, audit quality, and integration of environmental risks in financial decisions. Gao's research has amassed over 540 citations according to Google Scholar. She teaches financial accounting to postgraduate students at the University of Queensland.