Giovanna L Basso Dias

Advocate and researcher writing on diplomacy, gender equality, storytelling, and global issues đź‡§đź‡·đź‡®đź‡ąđź‡µđź‡ą

Research & Academics

Final Assignment — The Birth and Death of Italian Babies

I explore Italy’s record‑low fertility through the dual lenses of formal rules (maternity leave laws, family welfare policies, citizenship income) and informal norms (gendered domestic roles, dual‑income pressures). Using system mapping and institutional analysis, the paper uncovers self‑reinforcing feedback loops that sustain demographic decline and argues for coordinated legal and cultural reforms to revive Italian family life.

How to trade an Italian Immigrant for Coffee— a historical case study of Market Failure in 20th century Brazil Minerva University

I chart Brazil’s turn‑of‑the‑century coffee boom as a historic market failure driven by state‑sponsored migration and landlord power. Drawing on neoclassical labor theory and rich archival evidence, the paper shows how information asymmetries and debt‑peonage trapped 1.5 million Italians on São Paulo plantations, inflating coffee output but creating a surplus workforce. It concludes by evaluating the Pinetti Decree and imagining regulatory and political reforms to correct this exploitative cycle.

Italianness - a matter of birth or blood? A discussion on how mental models, ideology, and institutions lead to ethnic discrimination of immigrant communities in Italy

This paper traces how Italy’s ancestry‑based citizenship regime (ius sanguinis), reinforced by cultural norms such as la famiglia and la bella figura, turns formal “Italianness” into an exclusionary mental model. Using system‑mapping, it shows how media narratives, nationalist politics, and restrictive laws like the Salvini Decrees create self‑reinforcing feedback loops that marginalize immigrant communities. The study argues that legal reforms are insufficient and calls for integrated social, cultural, and institutional interventions.
Academics •

SS146 Final Assignment — Finding Italy’s lost babies - Cumulative study on policy to shift low birth rates in Italy

This policy review dissects Italy’s 16‑year fertility slump through governance lenses of state capacity, social inclusion, informal institutions, and rational‑choice incentives. It shows that current cash bonuses, tax breaks, and parental‑leave schemes are too weak, misaligned with young Italians’ economic anxieties and gendered time costs. The paper proposes a Comprehensive Family Support & Gender Equality Initiative—universal affordable childcare, father‑inclusive leave, targeted subsidies, and cultural‑shift programs—to realign incentives, boost female labor participation, and make child‑rearing economically and socially viable.
Academics •

The Birth Tourism Bubble: The increasing cases of Russian mothers giving birth in Brazil Minerva University SS111— Modern Economic Thought Prof. Digby April 26, 2023 The Birth

In early 2023, Florianópolis witnessed an astonishing influx of Russian “birth tourists”: over 38 babies born to Russian mothers in just a few months, and 121 in all of 2022. Lured by Brazil’s jus soli citizenship, affordable—and increasingly commodified—maternal care, these families pay anywhere from $5,000 to $35,000 for birth packages that promise a Brazilian passport for their newborns. Drawing on bubble theory, this paper argues that external shocks—most notably the Russian‑Ukrainian war and restrictive travel sanctions—have ignited a speculative “birth tourism bubble.” As demand feeds on itself through trust networks and price inflation, Brazil’s unregulated birth‑giving market risks the same boom‑and‑bust dynamic seen in classic asset manias.
Academics •

Italy’s Lost Babies - a Quantitative Review of Low Birth Rate in Italy and its Implications

In this quantitative review, I examine Italy’s record-low birth rate—379,000 births in 2023 (1.2 children per woman) and over 200,000 “lost babies” since 2008—and its socioeconomic impacts. Applying governance frameworks of state capacity and social inclusion, I evaluate family policy spending and immigrant integration, arguing that increased family-focused investment and improved non-EU integration are essential to reversing Italy’s demographic decline.

BeConfident: A Case Study

In just nine months since its April 2023 launch, BeConfident—a WhatsApp‑based AI English‑learning startup founded by four Brazilian college students—has generated over R$1 million by tapping into a market where only 5 % of Brazilians speak English. Serving 3,000 learners (65 % male, ages 30–60), BeConfident combines a student‑centered AI platform with a culture of “Ubuntu” teamwork and weekly check‑ins. This case study analyzes its rapid growth, customer insights, and data‑driven SWOT analysis to recommend gamified features, tiered pricing, and offline community events for scaling engagement and loyalty.