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Dr. Evan Johnson is a researcher with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with over ten years of experience in quantitative research and policy analysis. His research focuses on innovation and public policy, with specific foci including energy innovation, climate stabilization and the impacts of Federal R&D funding on high-tech firms. His work involves heavy use of econometric, geo-spatial, and data science tools to solve economic problems in energy and innovation.

His published work appears in leading academic journals, including Research Policy and Energy Research & Social Science. He serves as Principal Consultant on two Evaluation Panels at the U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, where he has authored reports for Congress to aid in evaluating Public R&D programs for innovation and entrepreneurship. He also has won NSF grants to study government incentives for innovation and small businesses.

Dr. Johnson is an Adjunct Teaching Assistant Professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. He has taught numerous courses in public policy and public administration, including research design, methods for analysis and evaluation, quantitative methods for policy analysis, and energy policy. Dr. Johnson holds masters and doctoral degrees in public policy from the University of Wisconsin and the University of North Carolina, respectively.

Working Papers

  • Johnson, E., Lanahan, L., Joshi, A. and Hemmatian, I. Economic Returns to PPP Loans for Minority Entrepreneurs: the moderating influence of Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs). (In preparation).
  • Johnson, E. and Bayas, R. “Innovative and Economic Returns to Foreign Talent: Federal Award Outcomes for Immigrant Entrepreneurs” (In preparation).
  • Clayton, P. and Johnson, E. “Time is Money: The Impact of Speedier Public Funding for Small High-Tech Ventures” (In Preparation).
  • Johnson, E.. and Womble, J. “Willingness to Pay for Climate Stabilizing Measures: A Meta-Analysis” (In preparation).
  • Johnson, E., Nemet, G. F. (2011). “Willingness to pay for climate policy: a review of estimates.” Social Science Research Network - Available online at:

    Link

Peer-Reviewed Publications

  • Feldman, M., Johnson, E., Bellefleur, R., Dowden, S., and Talukder, E. (2022). "Evaluating the tail of the Distribution: The Economic Contributions of Frequently Awarded Government R&D Recipients." Research Policy. Link
  • Johnson, E., Hemmatian, I., Lanahan, L., & Joshi, A. M. (2022). "A Framework and Databases for Measuring Entrepreneurial Ecosystems." Research Policy. Link
  • Lanahan, L., Joshi, A. and Johnson, E. (2021). “Do Public R&D Subsidies Produce Jobs? Evidence from the SBIR/STTR Program.” Research Policy. Link
  • Andrews, R.N.L and Johnson, E. (2016). “Organizational Energy Behavior: A Review of the Literature.” Energy Research and Social Science.
  • Nemet, G.F. and Johnson, E. (2012). “Do important inventions benefit from knowledge originating in other technological domains?” Research Policy . Link

Under Review

  • Lanahan, L., Hemmatian, I., Joshi, A. and Johnson, E."Turning Crisis Into Opportunity: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Landscape of Young Firms with a Public Sector Orientation." Under Review.

Policy Analyses, White Papers and Technical Reports

  • Davis, C.R., Berke, P., Holloman, D., Griffard, M., Haynes, S., Johnson, E., Warraich, Z, CrisostomoMorales, L, Gbikpi-Benissan, D.G., Gillespy, C., Butterfield, W., & Rakes, E., (2021). Supporting strategies for socially marginalized neighborhoods likely impacted by Natural Hazards. Chapel Hill: Coastal Resilience Center. Link
  • National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2020). Review of the SBIR and STTR Programs at the Department of Energy. National Academies Press. (Principal Consultant). Link
  • Johnson, E., Andrews, R.N.L., Yates, A.J., Arunachalam, S. (2014). “Calculating hurdle rates for household energy-saving durables using expenditure survey data.”
    • A report for U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development – Energy and Climate Assessment Team (ECAT).
  • Johnson, E., Andrews, R.N.L., Yates, A.J., Arunachalam, S. (2014). “Attitudinal drivers of energy efficiency investment behavior: a review of the literature.”
    • A report for U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development – Energy and Climate Assessment Team (ECAT).
  • Johnson, E., Andrews, R.N.L., Yates, A.J., Arunachalam, S. (2013). “Improving the representation of consumer purchasing behavior in MARKAL.”
    • A report for U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development – Energy and Climate Assessment Team (ECAT).
  • Felts, A., Johnson, E., Lalor, M. Williams, S., Winn-Ritzenberg, N. (2010). “Great Lakes aquatic invasive species and their impacts on Milwaukee: A policy framework.”
    • Prepared for the Mayor of the City of Milwaukee, Department of Administration, Budget and Management Division.

Journal Papers

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Conference Papers

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Selected Visualizations
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Cumulative State Policy Counts over Time

Cumulative totals of policy concentration and policy topics from 2000 up to 2015. User has option to track state TBED policy activity by Topic and Context. Darker color represents more cumulative policies along the user-specified grouping and years.

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Concentration in Policy Topic and Context over Time

The level of concentration based on the depth (blue) or breadth (red) of policy activity. Three temporal shifts tracing five (to six) years of activity to reflect broader trends in the data.

Teaching Overview

ArcLight Analytics

Website: https://arclightanalytics.com

About ArcLight Analytics

Arclight Analytics was founded by Dr. Evan Johnson, a researcher with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with over ten years of experience in quantitative research and policy analysis. Dr. Johnson has a passion for using quantitative research and data analytics tools to solve problems in policy and management, and has recruited a team of like-minded analysts that make up Arclight Analytics.

Dr. Johnson and his team at Arclight are skilled in data analytics, data visualization, geospatial analysis, and programming. Our work benefits clients in the public, private, and academic sectors looking to solve problems and improve strategy using large datasets. We employ a variety of analytical tools to perform program evaluation and causal inference; econometric analysis and data manipulation; and exploratory data analysis. After identifying important trends and key findings from the data, we utilize advanced data visualization techniques to communicate these findings to stakeholders and translate complex datasets into digestible conclusions. Specific areas of expertise include data science for business, government incentives for innovation, entrepreneurship and strategy research.

We at Arclight believe that careful analysis of large datasets can shed light on important trends and insights into how your organization’s strategy is working in practice. Our goal is to bring a rigorous academic approach to analysis of your data, to allow your organization to make the most informed decisions moving forward.