The method of synthetic control is utilised in the evaluation of the new operating model for Häme’s TE-Services

During the autumn of 2020, MDI, together with Owal Group Oy and Melkior, will carry out an operational and impact assessment of the new operating model for Häme’s TE-Services. The aim in developing the operating model is to build, together with private service providers, a new customer-producer model for unemployed jobseekers in the Forssa office of Häme’s TE-Services. The model is based on a results-based approach. The desired results of the operating model for the client are employment, entrepreneurship, study or a positive transition towards the labour market in a service that promotes employment. The operating model is implemented in the Forssa area.

The evaluation work includes the evaluation of service procurement and the functionality of the service, the evaluation of the effectiveness and added value of the service model and the evaluation of the inputs and outputs achieved with them. In addition, regional statistical comparative analyses are carried out using the method of synthetic control. In the analysis, a synthetic reference municipality as similar as possible to Forssa is formed via statistical method, consisting of a combination of several other municipalities.

This analysis provides information on whether, since the introduction of the service model in Forssa, the development has been more positive in relation to the objectives of the service model compared to the synthetic benchmark. At the same time, it is also being investigated which municipalities in the service’s target area should be used as suitable reference targets in future. The evaluation will eventually provide information on the future development of the operating model being evaluated.