The purpose of this research is to understand better recent changes in employment practices in Japan and the United States. This will be accomplished by gathering and analyzing qualitative data from cross-national field research at diverse firms (both manufacturing and non-manufacturing enterprises of varying size) in each nation. The research will focus on two important areas of employment practices: (i) participatory employment practices including both financial participation (such as Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Profit Sharing Plans) and non-financial participation (such as Joint Labor Management Committees, Shop Floor Committees, and Small Group Activities); and (ii) the practice of long-term employment (or implicit long-term employment guarantees for the regular workforce). Our analysis of unique cross-national data will produce evidence imperative for the formation of sensible public policy towards better enterprise productivity and, thus, better overall economic performance, not only in Japan and the U.S. but in many other countries.