An illustrious group of economists contribute to this volume honoring Dick Netzer, the public finance economist well-known for his research on state and local taxation, the provision of urban public services, and non-profit organizations. Following in his tradition, the contributors apply microeconomics to real world problems facing urban areas and use statistical analysis to gain insight into practical solutions. The first four chapters of the book provide in-depth explorations of alternative methods of financing urban government such as: the relative merits of income and property taxation at the local level, the impact of sales and income taxation on property taxation, and the feasibility of adopting a land value tax. The next two chapters focus on government expenditures: the impact of subsidized housing investment on property values, and the theoretical and historical explanations for public ownership and direct provision of public services. The final two chapters of the book turn their attention to the non-profit sector, exploring subsidies to non-profit arts organizations and the role of the non-profit sector in providing K-12 education, specifically addressing the implications for segregation and equity. Comprehensive and engaging, professionals and scholars in the fields of public finance, urban economics and public administration will find this collection of great interest.

Since the earlier 1980's the "sticker price" or "list price" of a college education in theUnited States has, according to estimates from the Consumer Price Index, risen significantlyfaster than the overall rate of inflation. This has raised considerable concern amongpolicymakers, parents and students that college attendance was becoming less and less affordableeven as it was becoming more and more important for economic success in the job market.

Since the earlier 1980's the "sticker price" of a college education in the United States has, according to estimates from the Consumer Price Index (CPI), risen significantly faster than the overall rate of inflation. For the CPI, the government collects data on the "sticker price" of college (tuition and fees) without adjusting for scholarships given or other discounts. Further, no adjustments are made for changes in the quality or characteristics of the services provided, such as attributes of the faculty, the course offerings, or the facilities. Thus, the estimated price indices reflect changes in quality and characteristics of college as well as changes in prices. In this paper, we develop and explore the construction of a quality-adjusted price index for US colleges, based on the estimation of a hedonic model of the price of college. Our analysis indicates that estimating price indexes using hedonic methods is both feasible and useful. Four particular recommendations emerge from this research. First, the price of college should be measured as the 'net' (tuition and fees net of financial aid) rather than the 'sticker' price for computing a consumer price index. Price indexes computed based upon tuition plus fees net of financial aid indicate significantly lower price rises than the price indexes computed based only upon tuition plus fees. Second, our results indicate that the 'brand' effect of individual colleges is important, so that price indexes should be computed controlling for the college-fixed effect. Third, it is important to include the attributes of colleges in constructing the price index in order to control for changes in the quality of college. And fourth, colleges that have graduate schools demonstrate different pricing than colleges that do not. While the conceptual framework for implementing a quality-adjusted price index for higher education is straightforward, practical implementation with currently available data presents empirical challenges