Dennis Epple is Thomas Lord University Professor of Economics at Carnegie Mellon University. He has a Master of Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School and a PhD in Economics from Princeton University. His research focuses on the political economy of state and local governments, household life cycle location choices, the economics of education, and learning by doing.

Timothy J. Bartik is a Senior Economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. His research focuses on state and local economic development and local labor markets, and his work spans areas such as evaluating economic development programs; how investment in early childhood programs affects local economies; the benefits of higher education institutions for local economic development; and alternative policies for increasing labor demand for the poor. Among his many books and book chapters, Dr. Bartik's Jobs for the Poor: Can Labor Demand Policies Help?