Not just firms; also state services cutting budgets, cutting staff. Parks
Canada provides a good, recent example. Also a few interesting cases here in
Germany.

-----Original Message-----


I suspect that attitude has developed, though, by firms being asked to cut
budgets to a bare minimum. When the governing agencies and clients are
strapped for cash, that's naturally going to affect how the work is done and
it doesn't usually leave much room for deeper research. It's unfortunate in
my opinion, as it severely limits the types of research that are funded in
this realm. I always appreciate firms who use their own funds to do
additional research on the side and present their findings at conferences,
etc. It's not always easy to make that happen.