Policy Research
Over the past 20 years, our researchers have successfully completed dozens of research and evaluation studies funded by U.S. Federal agencies, state government agencies, and private organizations throughout the United States.
Our team can offer similar services to government agencies in Cyprus and internationally to provide policymakers and program administrators with reliable evidence on the efficacy of their policies and programs and actionable recommendations for improving performance.
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Below are highlights of our past and current research projects in selected policy areas.
Projects
Over the past 15 years, our researchers have completed dozens of research and evaluation studies funded by U.S. Federal agencies, state government agencies, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and private organizations throughout the United States.
Below are highlights of a selection of our research team's current and past projects.
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For more information about our U.S. work, visit the website of our sister organization,
Actus Policy Research: www.actuspolicyresearch.com
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For a list of selected publications co-authored by our researchers,
Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) Impact Studies of Reemployment Services
and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) Programs in Seven States
FUNDING: Arnold Ventures; Colorado Department of Labor and Employment; Iowa Division of Labor; Kansas Department of Commerce; Missouri Department of Labor; Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation; North Carolina Department of Workforce Development; Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (2021-Present) STUDY OBJECTIVE: Examine the causal impacts of the RESEA programs in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin on the UI receipt, employment, and earnings of Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants. Each RCT study randomly assigns thousands of UI claimants to treatment and control conditions within each state, and uses state administrative data to estimate impacts on participants' UI receipt and reemployment outcomes. POLICY CONTEXT: In 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) initiated the RESEA program, which required new UI claimants to: 1) undergo an eligibility review to confirm compliance with UI work search requirements; and 2) receive personalized job counseling to help them connect to suitable jobs. Since then, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have developed RESEA programs based on these specifications, making RESEA one of the most important job-search assistance interventions ever implemented in the U.S. context. RESEARCH DESIGN: Conduct an RCT impact study withih each state that randomly assign UI claimants to RESEA and control conditions. Use state administrative to estimate program impacts on UI receipt, employment, and earnings, by comparing outcomes between the treatment and the control groups in each state. FINDINGS: Final and interim findings across states indicate that: 1) RESEA programs are effective in providing services to participants; 2) RESEA programs lead to significant reductions in UI receipt, causing millions of dollars in UI savings; and 3) benefit savings caused by the program exceed average program costs. RESEARCH & POLICY IMPACT: The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 authorized the permanent and nationwide implementation of the RESEA program and encouraged states to conduct evaluations to build evidence that meet the CLEAR high or moderate causal evidence rating requirement set by DOL. These studies will produce evidence that meet the high causal evidence CLEAR criteria, thereby contributing to the portfolio of evidence-based practices in this policy area and justifying continued Federal funding for the RESEA program.
Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of the PowerCorpsPHL Program
FUNDING: EducationWorks (2020-2023) STUDY OBJECTIVE: Examine the performance and impacts of the PowerCorpsPHL program by conducting an outcomes assessment study to examine program participation and program-related outcomes, and a quasi-experimental impact study to examine the effects of the program on participants’ labor market, educational, and criminal involvement outcomes. POLICY CONTEXT: IPowerCorpsPHL uses a work-based, classroom, and socio-emotional learning model to address the underutilized talents of Philadelphia’s disconnected youth adults (ages 18 – 28). The program engages this youth in AmeriCorps service and prepares them for career-track and employment and post-secondary education success in the green jobs sector. RESEARCH DESIGN: Conduct an outcomes assessment study using program participant-level data and Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania data to assess program success in assisting its target population to improve their labor market and criminal justice outcomes. The study also includes a quasi-experimental impact evaluation, which uses Pennsylvania administrative UI data to estimate program impacts on employment and earnings, by matching program participants with observationally similar non-participants who lived in the same areas and sought state employment and training services during the same period. FINDINGS: The program was effective in serving its target population, achieving high retention rates, and helping participants obtain industry credentials. Program participation is also associated with reduced future involvement with the criminal justice system. Quasi-experimental impact study results indicate that the program increased the likelihood that participants would engage in paid employment and increased job retention; there were also short-term impacts on earnings. RESEARCH & POLICY IMPACT: These findings highlight the effectiveness of targeted training programs in helping disconnected youth to improve their employment outcomes and reduce engagement in criminal activities.
Labor Market Effects of Job-Search Assistance:
Experimental Evidence from Four Programs during the Great Recession
FUNDING: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration; European Commission (2009-2016) STUDY OBJECTIVE: Use randomized controlled trial (RCT) designs to examine and compare the effectiveness of a services-referral program in Florida, two eligibility-review programs in Florida and Idaho, and a job-counseling program in Nevada. The study examined if the programs helped participants get reemployed quickly, improve their earnings, and reduce the amount of UI benefits collected. The study provides policy recommendations about which interventions are likely to yield the best results. POLICY CONTEXT: During the Great Recession, U.S. policymakers established a variety of programs that required unemployment insurance (UI) beneficiaries to participate in monitoring and job-search activities. These included: (1) services-referral programs that referred UI beneficiaries to public employment offices to receive services; (2) eligibility-review programs that reviewed UI beneficiaries' job search efforts to identify and disqualify those not actively searching for work; and (3) job-counseling programs that required UI beneficiaries to both undergo an eligibility review and receive individualized job-counseling services. ​RESEARCH DESIGN: Randomly assign new UI claimants to either participate in the program (treatment group) or to be exempted from the program (control group). Use state administrative data to estimate program impacts on employment, earnings, and UI benefits collected through treatment-control comparisons in outcomes. Use statistical tests to compare program impacts and identify which program(s) were the most effective. ​FINDINGS: All four programs reduced UI spells, thereby reducing the amount of benefits paid by the UI program. In all four cases, UI savings exceeded program costs, indicating that the interventions had a positive return of investment for the government. The Nevada program, which required both monitoring activities and job counseling, was by far the most effective of the four programs: It yielded much higher reductions in UI payments and was the only program that helped participants find jobs and improve their earnings after program participation. RESEARCH & POLICY IMPACT: The study was published in the Journal of Labor Economics, one of the top field journals in Economics. Results from this study are partly responsible for the U.S. Department of Labor's decision to encourage states to replace their existing services-referral and eligibility-review programs with interventions that followed the Nevada model of mandating both an eligibility review and job counseling. Currently, all 50 states are required to operate programs that emulate the Nevada program model.
Evaluation of the Growing America Through
Entrepreneurship (GATE) II Grants
FUNDING: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration (2005-2010) ​STUDY OBJECTIVE: Conduct randomized controlled trial (RCT) impact studies of the Growing America Through Entrepreneurship (GATE) II programs in Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Conduct implementation and outcomes assessment studies to assess program implementation and provide recommendations for improving performance and replicating success. POLICY CONTEXT: In 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded GATE II grants to the Departments of Labor of Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin to offer entrepreneurship training during the Great Recession to unemployed workers interested in starting their own business. RESEARCH DESIGN: Conduct an RCT study, in which GATE II applicants are randomly selected to either receive program services (treatment group) or to be denied services (control group). Collect and use follow-up survey data to estimate program impacts on new business starts and sustainability, self-employment and regular employment rates, business receipts, and earnings. FINDINGS: GATE II programs helped participants start their own business and become self-employed but had limited effects on earnings. Study concluded that government-sponsored entrepreneurship training is an effective policy during recessions to help unemployed workers interested in self-employment so start their own business and achieve self-sufficiency. RESEARCH & POLICY IMPACT: The Final Evaluation Report was published by the U.S. Department of Labor. Study results were used, along with the findings of other studies, to support the provision of entrepreneurship training services through public employment offices across the United States.
Long-Term Effects of Job-Search Assistance:
Experimental Evidence Using Administrative Tax Data
FUNDING: Arnold Ventures (2014-2020) ​STUDY OBJECTIVE: Examine the long-term effects of job counseling for unemployed workers and their families. Use a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design that relies on administrative tax data to evaluate the long-term effects of a job-search assistance program implemented in Nevada during the Great Recession. POLICY CONTEXT: Unemployed workers who collect Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits may be required to participate in job-counseling services as a condition for continued benefit eligibility. Research shows that job counseling may aid participants to improve their short-term employment outcomes and reduce their UI spells. There was limited evidence however on the long-term effects of such interventions. RESEARCH DESIGN: Combine existing data for UI beneficiaries who were eligible for participation in an experimental design job-search assistance program in Nevada with administrative tax records maintained by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Use administrative tax data to estimate the long-term program impacts (up to eight years after program entry) on a wide range of individual, family, and tax outcomes. FINDINGS: Job-search assistance can produce substantial long-term effects on participant employment and earnings, which are associated with large short-term reductions in UI benefit receipt, and increases in homeownership, tax filing, and Federal tax receipts. Study concluded that job-search assistance programs may yield substantial long-term effects for participants, their families, and the government that extend beyond any short-term impacts on participant employment and earnings. RESEARCH & POLICY IMPACT: The working paper is listed in the NBER Working Paper Series and is currently under peer review for publication. Preliminary findings from this work have been presented to U.S. policymakers and program-administrators both at the Federal and the state level.
From Unemployment to Self-Employment: The Role of Entrepreneurship Training
FUNDING: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration (2010-2016) ​STUDY OBJECTIVE: Use randomized controlled trial (RCT) designs to estimate the impacts of entrepreneurship training programs operating in Maine, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania in 2005 (a period of low unemployment) and similar programs operating in North Carolina and Virginia in 2009 (during the Great Recession). Assess if government-sponsored training is effective in helping unemployed workers to start their own business, become self-employed, and improve their earnings. POLICY CONTEXT: The U.S. Department of Labor, in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, supported the implementation of pilot demonstration programs to assess the efficacy of offering entrepreneurship training services through public employment offices to individuals interested in starting their own business. The ultimate objective was to fully incorporate entrepreneurship training to the menu of services offered by public employment offices across the United States. RESEARCH DESIGN: Randomly assign program applicants in each state to either receive program services (treatment group) or to be denied program services (control group). Collect follow-up survey data to measure the labor market outcomes of applicants following program assignment. Use data to: (1) estimate each program's impacts on new business starts on participant self-employment and other labor market outcomes; (2) compare program efficacy between the low-unemployment period and during the recession; and (3) assess which participants are more likely to benefit from receiving services. FINDINGS: In low-unemployment periods, entrepreneurship training can help unemployed workers with prior self-employment experience to start a sustainable business instead of resorting to salary jobs. Training may also convince unemployed workers who have strong employment options to consider salary employment instead; such choices often led to higher earnings. During the recession, training helped unemployed workers with no prior self-employment experience to start sustainable businesses instead of obtaining a salary job. Study concluded that government-sponsored entrepreneurship training: (1) should be offered only if no similar training is already offered by the private sector; (2) can help certain types of unemployed workers to achieve their self-employment aspirations; but (3) does not constitute a strong reemployment policy because those who benefit from training are those who would have found salary jobs in the absence of the training. RESEARCH & POLICY IMPACT: The paper was published in the IZA Journal of Labor Policy. The paper's findings expanded the evidence base used by the U.S. Department of Labor to support the provision of entrepreneurship training services through public employment offices.
Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) Impact Study of the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) Initiative
FUNDING: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration (2005-2012) STUDY OBJECTIVE: Conduct randomized controlled trial (RCT) impact studies of Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) programs in Florida, Idaho, Illinois, and Nevada. Conduct implementation and outcomes assessment study to identify differences in REA implementation across states. POLICY CONTEXT: In 2005, the U.S. Department of Labor initiated the REA program, which required unemployed workers who collected Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits to undergo an eligibility review to confirm that they were actively searching for work while collecting benefits. Program was initially adopted by 5 states and expanded to 33 states by 2010. RESEARCH DESIGN: Develop an RCT design, in which UI claimants are randomly selected to participate in the REA program (treatment group) or to be exempt from REA (control group); use state administrative data to estimate program impacts on participants' employment, earnings, and UI receipt. FINDINGS: All four programs reduced UI duration and produced UI savings that exceeded program costs. The Nevada REA program, which in addition to the eligibility review provided participants with personalized job counseling, was the only program that increased participant employment rates and earnings. Study concluded that REA programs are effective in reducing UI payments and that adding job counseling requirements may further improve program efficacy. RESEARCH & POLICY IMPACT: The Final Evaluation Reports and a Report to Congress were published by the U.S. Department of Labor. Based on the results of this study, in 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor encouraged states to modify their existing REA programs to include mandatory job counseling in addition to the eligibility review. To emphasize the importance of providing mandatory job counseling, the REA program was renamed to RESEA (Reemployment Services and Eligibility Review Assessment).