Impacts for Supporting Self-Employment as a Reemployment Strategy

This evaluation of the SET pilot program assesses its viability and effectiveness, providing information to answer research questions about how it operated and whether it worked:

1. Did the SET pilot program work? What was the net impact of the SET program on participants’ overall employment status and total earnings, as well as self-employment?
2. Where did the SET program work, and for whom did it work? Were there differences across study sites, and were these differences associated with key contextual features of those sites? What types of participants did the program attract, and which ones benefited from the program?
3. How did the SET pilot program work? How well did the key features of the program work?
4. What will it take to operate the SET pilot program at scale? What were the lessons learned regarding partnerships and supports needed to implement this pilot program at scale?

To answer these questions, the researchers designed and carried out a rigorous evaluation with two components:

1. To understand whether the program worked, where, and for whom, the evaluation included an impact analysis that used random assignment to determine access to the SET program. Across the four study sites, 1,981 eligible applicants were enrolled in the study and divided almost equally between the SET program group and a control group. The SET group (N = 991) had access to the program services developed for the demonstration, as well as SET microgrants. The control group (N = 990) was not offered these services and supports through the SET program, although they might have sought out similar types of assistance anyway and were referred to AJCs for job search help. Both groups could draw on other existing supports available in their communities. The impact evaluation used data from a baseline application survey given to all study group members and a follow-up survey conducted 18 months later to assess the effects of SET on a range of outcomes.
2. To understand how the program worked—what was needed to operate it, and lessons learned for replicating the program, scaling it, or informing similar efforts—the evaluation included an implementation analysis. This component of the evaluation drew on program application data, participant-tracking and -monitoring data, case study interviews with 36 participants, and site visit and telephone interviews with providers.

This resource includes the full report and a five-page brief that highlights the study outcomes.

1. SET led to the greater receipt of personalized assistance and seed capital;
2. SET produced sustained increases in self-employment activity;
3. SET may have been particularly effective in promoting self-employment among new entrepreneurs;
4. Additional testing could shed light on how SET supported self-employment;
5. SET was moderately successful as a reemployment program;
6. The program group stayed connected to the wage/salary job market;
7. SET produced similar employment impacts across demographic groups;
8. We observed substantial differences in site-level employment impact estimates, but it is not clear what these differences reflect;
9. SET did not affect average earnings during the period covered by the survey; and
10. Assessing impacts over a longer horizon could yield an improved understanding of SET’s effectiveness.

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2018
• Author(s): Hock, Heinrich; Anderson, Mary Anne; and Santillano, Robert
• Funding Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: India Johnson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies