Laser-induced changes in microwave dielectric loss of benzene solutions of two electron donor-acceptor systems, N-(4-cyanophenyl)carbazole and N-(1-naphthyl)carbazole, have been quantitatively measured with a view to determining the dipole moments and hence the nature of the fluorescent states of these systems. The dipole moments so determined are found to be much lower than that expected for a twisted intramolecular charge transfer state. On the basis of the measured values and the results of AMl calculations, it is concluded that, contrary to what is commonly believed, these donor-accepter systems emit from a locally excited state.