Governments, organizations, and consulting firms looking to improve their strategies and achieve better development outcomes can rely on evidence-based approaches and practical solutions based on behavioral science. 

Visit www.bemethods.com to learn more about my behavioral science consulting firm, Behavioral Methods LLC.

Behavioral Economist and Founder, Behavioral Methods LLC
Lead behavioral science engagements in global health and development, including behavioral diagnosis, intervention design, experimental and implementation evaluation, and strategies for scale. Translate findings into academic papers, policy products, and practical implementation guidance.

Senior Behavioral Science Consultant, American Cancer Society
Lead behavioral science strategy for HPV vaccination initiatives; build partnerships with government and civil-society stakeholders; train implementation partners; and translate evidence into practical guidance, reports, and academic publications.

Behavioral Economics Technical Advisor, FHI 360
Applied behavioral science and quantitative methods to global health and development programs, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to diagnose behavioral barriers, design interventions, and generate actionable evidence.

Behavioral Economics Consultant, Merck
Provided strategic guidance on HPV vaccination mobilization in Latin America, including implementation research, study and data-collection design, partnership development, analysis, and reporting.

Senior Behavioral Economics Fellow, Inter-American Development Bank
Led behavioral science projects across health, gender, agriculture, digital platforms, water and sanitation, and small-enterprise development in Latin America. Designed and evaluated interventions, managed institutional partnerships, produced policy and academic publications, and delivered behavioral science training.

Senior Associate, ideas42
Applied behavioral science and human-centered design to charitable giving and financial health, including behavioral diagnosis, intervention design, experimentation, and partner management.

Selected Advisory and Consulting Roles
Designed behavioral frameworks, experiments, training materials, and communication strategies for the World Bank, MAGENTA, and Pacífico Communications, and Firsthand, addressing challenges related to vaccination, nutrition, tax compliance, sanitation, disaster reporting, and sustainable development.

Research Assistant, Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science, George Mason University
Supported laboratory and field research in behavioral economics on happiness, competition, and charitable giving.

Experimental design, evaluation, project management, training/teaching behavioral economics, technical writing, strategic planning, and strategic partnerships. Proficiency in STATA. 

Spanish (native), English (fluent)

Doctorate of Philosophy, Economics, George Mason University

Masters in Economics, George Mason University

Bachelor of Business Administration, Economics and Finance and minor in Mathematics, University of Texas at El Paso

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Díaz, Lina, Karina Márquez, Deborah Martinez Villarreal, and Carlos Scartascini. 2025. “Combating Vaccine Hesitancy: The Case of HPV Vaccination.” Social Science & Medicine. doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118081

Khalil, Elias L., Jason A. Aimone, Daniel Houser, Siyu Wang, Deborah Martinez, and Kun Qian. 2021. “The Aspirational Income Hypothesis: On the Limits of the Relative Income Hypothesis.” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 182: 229–247. doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2020.12.003

Martinez Villarreal, Deborah, Cristina Parilli, Ana María Rojas Méndez, and Alberto Simpser. 2021. “Do You Have COVID-19? How to Increase the Use of Diagnostic and Contact Tracing Apps.” PLOS ONE 16 (7): e0253490. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253490

Martinez Villarreal, Deborah, Cristina Parilli, Carlos Scartascini, and Alberto Simpser. 2021. “Let’s (Not) Get Together! The Role of Social Norms on Social Distancing During COVID-19.” PLOS ONE 16 (3): e0247454. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247454

Ashby, Nathan J., Avilia Bueno, and Deborah Martinez Villarreal. 2013. “Economic Freedom and Economic Development in the Mexican States.” Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy 43 (1). doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.243945

Ashby, Nathan J., Avilia Bueno, and Deborah Martinez Villarreal. 2012. “The Determinants of Immigration from Mexico to the United States: A State-to-State Analysis.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 38 (4): 638–641. doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2012.727964

Manuscripts in Preparation

Maldonado, Stanislao, Deborah Martinez Villarreal, and Lina Díaz. “Building a Shield Together: Addressing Low Vaccine Uptake Against Cancer Through Social Norms.” Submitted to Journal of Health Economics.

Martinez Villarreal, Deborah,  Mónica Giraldo Castaño, Sebastián Ariza Abril, Benjamin Zvi Kahn, María Eugenia Pérez, Amanda Martino, and Marcie Fisher-Borne. “Gender-Neutral HPV Vaccination in Colombia: A Qualitative Study of Behavioral Barriers Among Parents of Unvaccinated Boys.” Manuscript in preparation.

Martinez Villarreal, Deborah, Julián Peña Duarte, Benjamin Zvi Kahn, María Eugenia Pérez, Amanda Martino, and Marcie Fisher-Borne. “Behavioral Messages to Promote Gender-Neutral HPV Vaccination: Secondary Analysis of a Large Randomized Controlled Trial in Colombia.” Manuscript in preparation.

Maldonado, Stanislao, Déborah Martínez Villarreal, Lina Díaz, Karina Márquez, and Carlos Scartascini. “What Convinces Parents to Vaccinate? A Field Experiment on HPV Uptake in Colombia.” Manuscript in preparation.

Working Papers, Technical Notes, and Policy Reports

Martinez Villarreal, Deborah, Ana María Rojas Méndez, Carlos Scartascini, and Alberto Simpser. 2024. The Central Role of Social Dynamics in Nudging Social Norms for Collective Health. Inter-American Development Bank Working Paper IDB-WP-1548. doi.org/10.18235/0012857

Díaz, Lina, Deborah Martinez Villarreal, Carlos Scartascini, and Colombe Ladreit. 2024. Lowering Businesses’ Carbon Footprint: Adoption of Eco-Efficiency Indicators in Colombia and Peru. Inter-American Development Bank Monograph IDB-MG-1189. doi.org/10.18235/0012905

Agurto, Marcos, Adans Bremeo, Deborah Martinez Villarreal, Ricardo Peñaherrera León, Lina Salazar, and Hori Tsuneki. 2024. Mejora de la Eficiencia de los Sistemas de Alerta Temprana Utilizando Ciencias del Comportamiento. Inter-American Development Bank Technical Note No. 2950. doi.org/10.18235/0013041

Martinez Villarreal, Deborah, Lina Díaz, and Stanislao Maldonado. 2023. Nudging the Trendsetters: Increasing Second-Dose HPV Vaccination in Bogotá, Colombia. Inter-American Development Bank Working Paper IDB-WP-1547. doi.org/10.18235/0005331

Martinez Villarreal, Deborah, and Lina M. Díaz. 2022. Behavioral Economics Toolkit: The Case of HPV Vaccination in Colombia. Inter-American Development Bank. doi.org/10.18235/0004610

Martinez Villarreal, Deborah, Ana María Rojas Méndez, and Carlos Scartascini. 2020. Behavioral Economics Can Help Fight Coronavirus. Inter-American Development Bank Policy Brief IDB-PB-334. doi.org/10.18235/0002315

Books and Book Chapters

Martinez Villarreal, Deborah, Meenu Anand, Lina Díaz, Stanislao Maldonado, and Carlos Scartascini. 2026. “From Hesitancy to Uptake: Behavioral Economics Solutions to Increase Human Papillomavirus Vaccination in Colombia.” In Behavioral Economics: Real-World Case Studies, 31–62. Aranzadi La Ley. www.aranzadilaley.es/MK/PDF/Behavioral-economics-real-world-case-studies/publication.pdf

Scartascini, Carlos, and Deborah Martinez Villarreal. 2023. “Improving Lives in Latin America and the Caribbean.” In Behavioral Public Policy in a Global Context, edited by Michael Sanders, Syon Bhanot, and Shibeal O’Flaherty. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31509-1_12

Scartascini, Carlos, Deborah Martinez Villarreal, and Cristina Parilli. 2023. “Bridging and Expanding Behavioral Science Channels.” In Behavioral Science for Development: Insights and Strategies for Global Impact, edited by Luis Atravia-Mora and Zarak Khan. Bescy Publishing.

Ashby, Nathan, Deborah Martinez Villarreal, and Avilia Bueno. 2012. “Economic Freedom of the Mexican States in 2010.” In Economic Freedom of North America 2012, 37–50. Fraser Institute.

Ashby, Nathan, Deborah Martinez Villarreal, and Avilia Bueno. 2010. “Economic Freedom in Mexico 2010.” In Economic Freedom of North America 2010, 83–95. Fraser Institute.

Doctoral Dissertation

Martinez Villarreal, Deborah. 2023. Nudging Vaccination in Latin America: Insights from Three Field Experiments in Behavioral Economics. PhD dissertation, George Mason University. www.bemethods.com/Nudging_Vaccination_in_LatinAmerica.pdf

Martínez Villarreal, Déborah. 2026. “Behavioral Economics Can Help Increase Vaccination Uptake in Latin America .” Presented at the LATAM HPV Summit, São Paulo, Brazil, August 15.

Martínez Villarreal, Déborah. 2026. “Salud Pública y Ciencias del Comportamiento.” Invited talk hosted by the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia, April 9 (virtual).

Martínez Villarreal, Déborah, Julián Peña, Benjamin Zvi Kahn, Amanda Martino, and Marcie Fisher-Borne. 2026. "Behaviorally Informed Text Messages to Boost Gender-Neutral HPV Vaccination: A Secondary Data Review of a Large-Scale RCT in Colombia." Presented at EUROGIN International Multidisciplinary HPV Congress, Vienna, Austria, March.

Martínez Villarreal, Déborah, Andrea Romero García, Marcela Forero, Diana Ramírez Peña, Jeimy Alzate Hernández, Sara Comstock, Nina DaSilva Batista, Meenu Anand, Stanislao Maldonado, Carlos Scartascini, Lina Díaz, and Karina Márquez. 2025. "Increasing HPV Vaccination in Colombia: From Experimental Evidence to National Implementation." Presented at the International Papillomavirus Society (IPVS) Conference, Bangkok, Thailand, October.

Martínez Villarreal, Déborah. 2025–2026. Faculty, CCAE HPV Vaccination Virtual Learning Series. Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and American Cancer Society. Virtual.

Martínez Villarreal, Déborah. 2025. "La última milla de la política pública: de la buena intención al verdadero impacto." Presented at Congreso Internacional y Nacional de Cáncer.  Senado de la República, Colombia, May. 

Martínez Villarreal, Déborah. 2024. "Designing Behavioral Interventions: Cervical Cancer Elimination." Presented at Network Dialogue Series: Facilitated Discussions on Critical Issues for Cervical Cancer Elimination, remote, May. 

Martínez Villarreal, Déborah, Stanislao Maldonado, Lina Díaz, Meenu Anand, and Carlos Scartascini. 2024. "Multi-Sector Partnerships to Accelerate HPV Vaccination: Scaling Behaviorally Tested Messages to Address Vaccine Trust in Colombia." Paper presented at EUROGIN International Multidisciplinary HPV Congress, Stockholm, Sweden, March.

Stanislao Maldonado, Déborah Martínez Villarreal, and Lina Díaz. 2023. "Leveraging The Trend: Dynamic Norms Increase Vaccinations in a Minority Norm Scenario." Paper presented at The International Economic Association (IEA), and Universidad EAFIT, Medellin, Colombia, December. 

Martínez Villarreal, Déborah, Stanislao Maldonado y Lina Díaz. 2023. "Nudging Vaccination in Latin America: Insights From Field Experiments." Paper presented at the Department of Biomedical Sciences Division of Population Sciences and Behavioral Design Speaker Series, Cedars-Sinai, remote, November. 

Martínez Villarreal, Déborah, Stanislao Maldonado, and Lina Díaz. 2023. "Leveraging The Trend: Dynamic Norms Increase Vaccinations in a Minority Norm Scenario." Paper presented at Advances with Field Experiments (AFE), University of Chicago, IL, September.

Martínez Villarreal, Déborah, Stanislao Maldonado, and Lina Diaz. 2023. "Leveraging The Trend: Dynamic Norms Increase Vaccinations." Paper presented at Second International Behavioral Public Policy Conference, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, September.

Maldonado, Stanislao, Déborah Martinez Villarreal, and Lina Diaz. 2023. "Leveraging The Trend: Dynamic Norms Increase Vaccinations in a Minority Norm Scenario." Paper presented at 5th LACEA BRAIN Conference, Montevideo, Uruguay, May.

Martinez Villarreal, Déborah, Meenu Anand, Marcie Fisher-Borne. 2023. "Increasing HPV Vaccination in Colombia with Low-Cost Behavioral Science Interventions." Poster presented at International Papillomavirus Society (IPVS) Conference, Washington, DC, April.

Martinez Villarreal, Déborah and Lina Diaz. 2022. "A Behavioral Economics Toolkit: The Case of HPV Vaccinations in Colombia." Paper presented at the Seminario de Investigación en Ciencias del Comportamiento of the Universidad Autónoma de México, remote, December. 

Martinez Villarreal, Déborah and Lina Diaz. 2022. "A Behavioral Economics Toolkit: The Case of HPV Vaccinations in Colombia." Presentation at the Master of Behavioral and Decision Sciences Class, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, September.

Martinez Villarreal, Déborah. 2021. "¿Cómo Informar las Comunicaciones con la Ciencia del Comportamiento?" Presentation at the Ministerio de Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación de Paraguay, remote, November.

Martinez Villarreal, Déborah. 2020. "Behavioral Science Methodologies". Presentation at the Clase Especial Para Líderes de Grupos Estudiantiles, Universidad Anáhuac, remote, July.