As part of the Stanford Series on Education and Public Policy, academic careers and academic labor markets in American higher education are examined from a perspective based on both economic reasoning and sociological analysis. Research common to both fields is considered in a series of 10 essays that discuss the following subjects: "Studies of Academic Markets and Careers: An Historical Review" (Ted I. K. Youn); "Entry into Academia: Effects of Stratification, Geography, and Ecology" (Robert McGinnis and J. Scott Long); "Institutional Career Mobility in Academia" (Ted I. K. Youn and Daniel Zelterman); "Exit and Re-entry in Higher Education" (Rachel A. Rosenfeld and Jo Ann Jones); "Part-Time Faculty and Part-Time Academic Careers" (Howard P. Tuckman and Karen L. Pickerell);"Merit Pay in Higher Education" (W. Lee Hansen); "Gender Differences in the Academic Reward System" (Debra Barbezat); "University Scientists as Entrepreneurs" (Maurice N. Richter, Jr.); "The Economics of Academic Tenure: A Relational Perspective" (Michael S. McPherson and Gordon C. Winston); and "Research on Academic Labor Markets: Past and Future" (David W. Breneman). (SM)