An economic analysis of the market for archaeological services in the planning process

Archaeologists became heavily involved in the planning process after 1990, when policy guidance was first published requiring the investigation of possible heritage sites as a precondition for planning permission. Developers pay for the archaeologists’ investigations and generally consider this to be a straightforward cost from which they receive little direct benefit, apart from planning permission. Without the regulations developer demand for archaeologists’ services would be much lower – although some developers (those with a particular interest in the field, those who own sites of particular interest, or those who see it as a public relations tool) would still commission work.