CEO Library

In 2014, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) contracted with Mathematica Policy Research and ideas42 to examine whether insights from behavioral science can be used to improve outcomes in the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) programs under the Advancing Behavioral Interventions in Labor Programs portfolio of studies.

In 2014, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and funded contractor Abt Associates to conduct the OFCCP Community-Based Organization Outreach Evaluation under the Advancing Behavioral Interventions in Labor Programs portfolio of studies.

In 2021, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and 11 participating counties in Ohio, funding contractor American Institutes for Research to conduct the Using Behavioral Insights to Increase Youth Use of Workforce Services in Virtual Contexts. The impact evaluation aims to test how behavioral insights can enhance service engagement and completion among young adults participating in Ohio’s Comprehensive Case Management and Employment Progr

In 2017, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) funded contractor Mathematica and its partners, American Institutes for Research, the Urban Institute, the W.E. Upjohn Institute, and ideas42, to assist with CEO’s Behavioral Interventions (BI) work, including developing rigorous impact evaluation design options for studying innovative program improvement strategies. In 2019, in partnership with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), the BI team began investigating behavioral barriers to successful online job search.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Office of Workforce Investment (OWI) supports state and local workforce agencies in providing information to help job seekers successfully search for work. As part of this support, OWI asked the DOL Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) and the DOL Behavioral Interventions (DOL BI) team to explore whether applications of behavioral science could improve the usefulness of the information that job seekers use when searching for positions, investing in training, and considering career options.

Improving career readiness and job access for youth and young adults is vital. Millions of low-income Americans need better access to high-quality career pathways to escape poverty. This is no easy task— economic opportunity has shrunk dramatically in the United States in the past half-century (Chetty et al. 2016). Meanwhile, employers face rising shortages in the supply of skilled workers, making it harder to compete on the global market (World Economic Forum 2021).

Appendices to the Using Behavioral Insights to Increase Youth Use of Workforce Services in Virtual Contexts Final Report: Appendix A: Resources for Learning More About Behavioral Insights and How to Use Them for Continuous Improvement, Appendix B: Supplementary Details on Study Context and Design, Appendix C: Technical Details on Impact Estimates, and References.

In 2019, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration, Office of Unemployment Insurance (OUI) to conduct the Behavioral Interventions to Improve Work Search Among Unemployment Insurance Claimants project. The unemployment insurance (UI) program requires claimants to be actively looking for work while they receive benefits to encourage a rapid return to work.

The report of impact evaluations aimed to assess the effectiveness of behaviorally-informed communications – such as a pop-up alert and emails – in increasing unemployment insurance (UI) claimants’ compliance with work search requirements.

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) funded contractor Urban Institute to conduct the project Advancing Behavioral Interventions in Labor Programs. Advancing Behavioral Interventions in Labor Programs aims to advance the application of behavioral sciences - or understanding how people realistically make and act on decisions - to improve the design of public policies and programs in ways that reflect a deeper understanding of human nature.

In 2022, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) and funded independent contractor Westat and its subcontractors Westat Insight, American Institutes for Research, and Manhattan Strategy Group to conduct an Evaluation of the VETS Employment Navigator and Partnership Pilot (ENPP). The implementation and outcomes study aims to understand and build evidence on the use of VETS employment navigators to improve outcomes for transitioning service members (TSMs) and military spouses.

In 2017, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) to fund contractor Abt Associates to conduct the Stay at Work/Return to Work (SAW/RTW) Models and Strategy Study. The study aims to document and expand the knowledge base of SAW/RTW strategies and identify promising models and best practices. The final study also includes evaluation design options, which could be implemented to build on and add to the evidence produced.

Paper that presents a study of consumer learning in the context of payroll accounts, a simple financial technology that is currently being rolled out to millions of workers worldwide in response to demands for increased supply chain transparency and as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The researchers conducted a field experiment with a population of salaried factory workers in Bangladesh who, prior to the study, received their wages entirely in cash.

Paper that presents results of a randomized controlled trial with 3,136 salaried factory workers in Bangladesh employed at two large garment factories which, at the beginning of the study, paid all wages in cash. The researchers randomly and individually assign workers within the same factory to either continue receiving their wages in cash or receive electronic wage payments through either a bank or mobile account.

Stay-at-Work/Return-to-Work (SAW/RTW) programs intend to help a worker who experiences an illness or injury to remain at work, or if the worker has left the labor force, to return as soon as medically possible. The report analyzes public data to estimate the characteristics of the SAW/RTW target population and examine pathways from illness/injury to federal disability benefits as a way to identify opportunities for intervention.

Stay-at-Work/Return-to-Work (SAW/RTW) programs intend to help a worker who experiences an illness or injury to remain at work, or if the worker has left the labor force, to return as soon as medically possible. The report describes programs that were operating in the U.S. in 2018.

Stay-at-Work/Return-to-Work (SAW/RTW) programs intend to help a worker who experiences an illness or injury to remain at work, or if the worker has left the labor force, to return as soon as medically possible. The report includes a review of evidence published between 2008 and 2018 on the effects of SAW/RTW or related programs on employment and the receipt of federal disability benefits.

Stay-at-Work/Return-to-Work (SAW/RTW) programs intend to help a worker who experiences an illness or injury to remain at work, or if the worker has left the labor force, to return as soon as medically possible. The report presents five options for new research to build evidence about the target populations for SAW/RTW and to test the effects of interventions on employment outcomes.

The brief provides a summary of information about the Stay at Work/Return to Work (SAW/RTW) Models and Strategy Study, the process, and findings from each study report.

In 2017, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) to fund contractor Mathematica to conduct the Wage and Hour Division’s Compliance Strategies Evaluation. The impact design and outcomes evaluation aim to build evidence on how to assess effective compliance strategies and compliance assistance within WHD, including exploring ways WHD may use external data for ongoing monitoring and evaluation.

The report supplements the Wage and Hour Division’s (WHD) Compliance Strategies Evaluation by exploring whether and how data that are housed outside of WHD could be integrated with WHD’s administrative data. The researchers explored how external data can be integrated with WHD’s case management system, the Wage and Hour Investigative Support and Reporting Database (WHISARD), and the limitations of doing so.

The report examines information from a literature and database review that identified knowledge gaps, discussions with Wage and Hour Division (WHD) about compliance strategies, and discussions with a panel of experts about compliance strategies. The researchers then developed a framework for WHD and other agencies to consider when designing processes for monitoring and evaluating strategies and outcomes.

The report provides intervention and evaluation designs for two behavioral intervention (BI) trials that, if implemented, would test whether webinar registrations increase when behavioral strategies are applied to emails targeting a given industry. To design the study, researchers followed a six-step process developed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for designing and conducting BI studies that has resulted in trials that produce meaningful evidence.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)’s Chief Evaluation Office (CEO), in partnership with the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) contracted with Mathematica Policy Research to synthesize existing literature and data related to WHD compliance strategies.

In 2017, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) funded contractors Mathematica Policy Research, American Institutes for Research, ideas42, the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, and Urban Institute to explore how insights from behavioral science can be used to improve the performance and outcomes of Department of Labor programs.