A major aspect of Japan's international economic success has been its industrial firms' ability to develop a system of subcontracting with suppliers. Through an exploration of the evolution of subcontracting in Japan as well as an analysis of its current practice in advanced economies, Nishiguchi reveals what he believes to be the shortcomings of existing theories of contractual relations. He shows that subcontracting can be described as the evolutionary product of complex historical interaction among social, political, technological, and company-level strategic plans--but not one constrained by culture. This makes it possible for other countries to use models similar to those employed in Japan, encouraging continuous improvement in product quality and cost reduction.