Solomon W. Polachek is a Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University), where he has taught since 1983. His Ph.D. is from Columbia University, and he has had post-doctoral fellowships at the University of Chicago and Stanford University, and visiting faculty appointments at the Catholic University of Leuven, Tel Aviv and Bar Ilan Universities, Princeton, and Kasetsart University. Konstantinos Tatsiramos holds a Joint Professorship in Labour Economics at the University of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER). His Ph.D. is from the European University Institute, and he has had academic positions at the University of Nottingham, the University of Leicester and the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

• Preface; Solomon W. Polachek and, Konstantinos TatsiramosChapter 1. Racial differences in labor market transitions and The Great Recession; Kenneth A. Couch, Robert Fairlie, and Huanan Xu Chapter 2. The optimal graduated minimum wage and social welfare; Eliav Danziger and Leif Danziger Chapter 3. Promotion determinants in corporate hierarchies: An examination of fast tracks and functional area; Christian Belzil, Michael Bognanno, and François Poinas Chapter 4. Flattening firms and wage distribution; Xin Jin Chapter 5. Wage determination in social occupations: The role of individual social capital; Julie L. Hotchkiss and Anil Rupasingha Chapter 6. Computer gaming and the gender math gap: Cross-country evidence among teenagers; Yann Algan and Nicole M. Fortin Chapter 7. The role of health in retirement; Alan L. Gustman and Thomas L. Steinmeier

This volume brings together seven chapters by researchers from North America and France, who explore employment transitions. They address wage and employment transitions related to the entire labor market, including the labor market transitions of African Americans and Hispanics to understand whether minorities are the last hired during periods growth and the first fired during recessions, as well as how the graduated minimum wage can improve social welfare; promotion transitions within the corporate structure; gender in relation to math ability and occupational choice and social capital; and how health impairments affect the transition into retirement.