Faculty definitions of merit are analyzed through 417 recommendations for merit salary awards. The effects of the recommendation writer's academic characteristics on the case made were examined, and it was found that definitions of merit varied by academic discipline and rank, and teaching was generally less valued than research or service. (MSE)

The contemporary academic labor market is examined using concepts from labor market economics and sociology to elucidate why teaching, universally acknowledged to be at the center of American academic life, is not at the center of the academic labor market and is only modestly rewarded. First, tenets of the neoclassical labor market model are…