Therese McGuire, an economist at Northwestern University, said that with the right information lawmakers should be able to create focused incentives that at least increase the odds of a return on a state's investments, or to choose to provide nothing at all.

"I think it's possible from these examples for policymakers to make intelligent choices about whether or not to give tax incentives," McGuire said. "(And) you're talking to someone who has become sort of innately skeptical of tax incentives."

But University of Illinois economist Fred Giertz said that while the report is well-intentioned, it's often difficult to judge how well corporate tax breaks work.

"I'm not hopeful they'll have really precise results to measure job creation," he said.

Pew reviewed close to 600 documents for its report and interviewed more than 175 people, with every state participating, Chapman said.

Of the 13 states listed as doing an adequate job in oversight, four -- Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Iowa -- received the most praise in the report.