Purpose:

  • The TAA program, administered by the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), seeks to assist U.S. workers who have lost or may lose their jobs as a result of foreign trade. The program provides adversely affected workers with opportunities to obtain the skills, credentials, resources, and support necessary to (re)build skills for future jobs. This project will test the application of a behavioral intervention in improving the administration of the TAA program, for example by examining the effectiveness of changes to factors associated with the speed of eligibility and determination processes. Additionally, this study will develop evaluation design options for a rigorous long-term impact evaluation of the TAA program, as reauthorized by the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2015.

Key Components:

  • Behavioral interventions evaluation to identify and test the effectiveness of short term operational changes on participant outcomes.
  • Evaluation design options for a future long-term impact evaluation of the program.

Project Duration: 66 Months

Contract End Date: March 2023

Contractor: Mathematica Policy Research with American Institutes for Research and Social Policy Research Associates

For More Information: ChiefEvaluationOffice@dol.gov

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy. CEO’s research development process includes extensive technical review at the design, data collection and analysis stage, including: external contractor review and OMB review and approval of data collection methods and instruments per the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), Institutional Review Board (IRB) review to ensure studies adhere to the highest ethical standards, review by academic peers (e.g., Technical Working Groups), and inputs from relevant DOL agency and program officials and CEO technical staff. Final reports undergo an additional independent expert technical review and a review for Section 508 compliance prior to publication. The resulting reports represent findings from this independent research and do not represent DOL positions or policies.