RANDALL G. HOLCOMBE is DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University. He is also chairman of the Research Advisory Council at the James Madison Institute for Public Policy Studies, a Tallahassee-based think-tank that specializes in issues facing state governments. He is author of seven books, including Public Policy and Quality of Life (Greenwood, 1995). His primary research areas are public finance and the economic analysis of public policy issues.

RUSSELL S. SOBEL is Assistant Professor of Economics at West Virginia University and a faculty research associate with the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at West Virginia University. He is author of several articles.