The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policy Making Act of 2018 requires agencies to make agency data public when possible and to develop statistical evidence to support policymaking. The Department of Commerce's evaluation policy is that evaluations must be transparent. Evaluation design and findings should be made public to the greatest extent possible and should only be withheld for legal, ethical, or national security concerns. Findings should provide enough detail so that others can review, interpret, or replicate/reproduce the work. 

Learn more about Evaluation at the Department of Commerce.

Evaluation Reports 

Investing in America: The Estimated Socioeconomic Impacts and Ecosystem Services Benefits of NOAA Coastal Management and Habitat Restoration Investments
This evaluation covers eight coastal management and conservation funding opportunities in NOAA’s National Ocean Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, released and awarded in 2022 and 2023, which represent 173 awards and $717 million in federal funding. The report demonstrates the economic, social, and ecosystem services benefits NOAA grant-funded investments are expected to generate across coastal and Great Lakes states, as well as U.S. Territories. Given these awards were generally in the early stage of implementation when the analyses were conducted, NOAA selected evaluation methods (detailed in the appendices) that enabled the agency to model or estimate anticipated benefits before project completion using information available from the grant-award documents.

2023 Federal Broadband Funding Report
The ACCESS BROADBAND Act 2021 charged NTIA’s Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth with capturing data on federal broadband investments, including the number of United States residents receiving broadband services from Universal Service Fund programs or federal broadband support programs and reporting on the local economic impact of broadband investments, including any impact on small businesses or jobs.

Local Impacts of Economic Development Administration Construction Investments
This evaluation estimates the impacts of EDA construction projects on businesses, jobs, and incomes. We use panel data to create a more rigorous quasi-experimental method than those used in previous studies that accounts for trends over time. We estimate the impacts of grants for EDA construction projects awarded from 2010 onward on establishments (for-profit firms and nonprofit organizations), jobs, and incomes of nearby residents at both the census tract and county levels. Our impact estimates compare establishments, jobs, and incomes three to eight years after a grant award to their same levels three-plus years before the grant award. We also add several data sources to strengthen our understanding of EDA’s impacts on local areas.

An Overview of GHG Monitoring: Objectives and Technologies
This background paper explores the potential for APEC economies to implement innovative technologies to aid the measurement of atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the associated protocols for their adoption. It provides an overview of the current suite of atmospheric measurement systems and devices, emerging technologies in the field, and key examples of what APEC economies currently use to measure atmospheric GHG emissions. Additionally, this paper dives into the importance of aligning technologies with regulatory frameworks of emissions inventories to support the adoption and integration of effective measurement and monitoring practices.

After the Storm: How Emergency Liquidity Helps Small Businesses Following Natural Disasters
Does emergency credit prevent long-term financial distress? We study the causal effects of government-provided recovery loans to small businesses following natural disasters. The rapid financial injection might enable viable firms to survive and grow or hobble precarious firms with more risk and interest obligations. We show that the loans reduce exit and bankruptcy, increase employment and revenue, unlock private credit, and reduce delinquency. These effects, especially the crowding-in of private credit, appear to reflect resolving uncertainty about repair. We do not find capital reallocation away from neighboring firms and see some evidence of positive spillovers on local entry.

The National-Level Economic Impact of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP): Estimates for Fiscal Year 2023
The Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, contracted with Summit Consulting and the Upjohn Institute to analyze the overall effect of MEP projects on the U.S. economy in fiscal year 2023 (FY 2023). MEP Centers deliver technical assistance to primarily small and medium-sized manufacturing establishments to help them improve their productivity and competitiveness. The Centers assist with product development, new investments, and improved products and processes. They also provide tools and resources for business expansion and business continuity planning that contribute to improved sales and cost savings. These enhancements increase client establishments' productivity, profitability, and competitiveness, thus improving the economy by creating jobs, increasing earnings, and expanding the tax base.

Group Quarters Advance Contact – Refining Classification of College or University Student Housing in Debriefings with University Student Housing Administrators
The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the performance of the student housing screening question used in Group Quarters Advance Contact and identify potential changes to the screening definition and to the group quarters-type definitions on which it is based.

Investigating Digital Advertising and Online Self-Response
This study's purpose is to evaluate the role of digital advertising in directing respondents to complete the census online.

Matching 2018 Census Barriers, Attitudes, and Behaviors Study (CBAMS) Survey Sample to 2020 Census Report
By matching the 2018 CBAMS survey sample addresses to 2020 Census addresses, this study evaluated (1) the relationship between intended response to the 2020 Census and actual response behaviors; (2) the comparison of mode preference in 2018 CBAMS and response mode used in the 2020 Census; (3) the comparison of 2020 Census self-response rates by individual characteristics from the 2018 CBAMS and household characteristics from the 2020 Census to get a sense of how movers and respondent mismatches affect the analysis; and (4) an exploratory model to examine the relationship between self-reported intent to participate in the 2020 Census as stated in 2018 CBAMS and actual 2020 Census participation while controlling for 2018 CBAMS characteristics.

An Assessment of the Divisions of the Physical Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology Located in Boulder, Colorado: Fiscal Year 2023
Since 1959, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has annually commissioned the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to assess its various measurements and standards laboratories. This report appraises the Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML), assessing four divisions of PML situated at the  NIST Boulder campus: the Applied Physics Division, the Time and Frequency Division, the Quantum Electromagnetics Division, and the Quantum Physics Division. The report compares the caliber of research at PML with similar international programs to determine whether programs adequately align with its objectives; assesses the range of scientific and technical expertise available within PML; considers the budget, facilities, equipment, and Human Resources to bolster PML technical endeavors and contribute to the fulfillment of its goals; and assesses the efficacy of PML methods for disseminating the products of its work.

Technical Document Accompanying the Distribution of Personal Income by State: Prototype Statistics
In response to growing interest in how income is distributed across households, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has been researching methods to construct statistics on income distribution that adhere to national economic accounting principles. On October 24, 2023, BEA published prototype statistics on state distribution of personal income. These statistics provide income information that accrues to individuals within certain income groups, as well as ratios and Gini coefficients that provide a fuller picture of state economies.

2022 Federal Broadband Funding Report: Investing in Internet for All
The 2022 Federal Broadband Funding Report summarizes and analyzes FY21 data collected across the federal government. Broadband funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was appropriated in FY22 and will be included in the 2023 Report. Due to the data collection timeline, Federal Broadband Funding Reports currently report on the previous fiscal year rather than the fiscal year they are released in. To accompany this report, NTIA developed a consolidated data dashboard to assist in analyzing and reporting for FY21 federal broadband investments. The full dashboard with comprehensive filters and data extract capabilities is below; links to the report data in Infogram®, a data visualization and infographics platform.

Real-Time 2020 Administrative Record Census Simulation
This experiment combined 31 types of administrative records and third-party sources to produce 2020 population estimates with the same reference date, April 1, 2020, and within the same timeframe as the 2020 Census of Population and Housing. The sources and methodology are designed to improve coverage of historically undercounted population groups. The report identifies several improvements critical to developing the Census Bureau’s administrative record infrastructure to facilitate higher-quality administrative record-based population estimates, especially regarding locational accuracy.

The National-Level Economic Impact of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP): Estimates for Fiscal Year 2022

The study’s purpose is to use client-reported outcomes to estimate the overall effect of NIST MEP on the U.S. economy. Using a model developed by Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI), the study estimates the indirect and induced effects of MEP clients' reported increases in jobs, sales, cost savings, and investments.

Comparing 2019 Census Test and 2020 Census Self-Response Rates to Estimate Decennial Environment
The 2020 Census was accompanied by a diverse array of paid advertisements, partnership outreach programs, news coverage, and more designed to increase knowledge about the census and motivate households to self-respond, specifically through the internet mode. This evaluation estimates these programs' effects, collectively called the decennial environment. By matching the 2019 Census Test data to the 2020 Census data, we compared self-response rates between the 2020 Census and the 2019 Census Test, void of advertisements. 

The Future of Place-Based Economic Policy: Early Insights from the Build Back Better Regional Challenge
As the nation seeks to rebuild in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, federal policymakers increasingly recognize that supporting bottom-up solutions is a critical path for spurring economic recovery, mitigating climate change, establishing supply chains in critical technologies, and addressing geographic inequities. This is the central premise of place-based economic policies like the $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge (BBBRC)—a challenge grant administered by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) in the U.S. Department of Commerce. As the EDA’s signature American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) recovery program, the BBBRC provides five-year grants ranging from $25 million to $65 million across 21 competitively selected regions. These investments will support the local development of nationally critical industries and technologies in ways that deliver economic opportunity to traditionally underserved people and communities.

Where are U.S. Women Patentees? Assessing Three Decades of Growth
This report maps women’s participation as inventor-patentees across U.S. counties from 1990 through 2019. It identifies counties with the most women patentees by technology field and assesses three decades of growth. Recognizing that increasing the number of women who patent is an important policy objective, the analysis explores characteristics of county economic environments correlated with having and increasing the number of women inventor-patentees. The results presented clarify the landscape and lay the foundation for evidence-based approaches to important questions, such as how women’s participation impacts county-level economic performance.

The Probability of Winning Federal Contracts: An Analysis of Small Minority-Owned Firms 
This study reviews data on federal government contracting and assesses the relationship between contracting outcomes for small businesses and their type of ownership. The study is limited in scope and evaluates the probability of certain classifiable businesses’ attainment of federal contracts in a specific period, including minority-owned businesses and small disadvantaged businesses (including businesses participating in the Small Business Administration’s Section 8(a) business development program).

Developing Statistics on the Distribution of State Personal Income: Methodology and Preliminary Results
In recent years, a growing interest in income inequality has fueled demand for information on how the nation’s prosperity and growth are shared across households as a complement to published data on total income and output. This paper details the methodology and presents preliminary measures of the distribution of income at the regional level. These are based on personal income, a primary economic indicator published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and measure how personal income is distributed across households in each state and the District of Columbia. The methodology allocates detailed components of state personal income to households based on household data from the Current Population Survey supplemented with other sources. The household-level data are then aggregated to generate state-level bottom-up inequality statistics, including Gini coefficients, medians, and quintile shares of state personal income. The results show that many inequality trends are similar across measures.

NTIA ACCESS BROADBAND 2021 Report
The ACCESS BROADBAND Act, enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, mandated that NTIA produce an annual report to Congress. The report highlights the accomplishments of NTIA’s Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth (OICG) over the past year, covers investments in federal broadband support programs and Universal Service Fund (USF) programs, and provides recommendations to improve efforts to track broadband spending and outcomes.

Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CLDP and SABIT Program in Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia: Evaluation Report for Central Asia (Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan)
The U.S. Department of State has commissioned the evaluation of the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) and the Special American Business Internship Training (SABIT) Program to assess the performance and effectiveness of the programs’ results from 2007 to 2017. This assessment also more narrowly considers 2018 and 2019 regarding their use of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) practices in six targeted countries: Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Ukraine. This report evaluates CLDP and SABIT interventions in the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan.