Regulatory experiments as a tool for the governance of innovation towards sustainable development

Regulatory experiments can help steer complex transformation processes towards sustainable development. They help to understand the effects of laws and other regulations and provide insights into the dynamics of social processes. So far there has been a lack of empirical studies that analyze heterogeneous samples of regulatory experiments. Using a qualitative content analysis, this paper examines 26 international cases of regulatory experiments in the field of sustainable development. The results illustrate the wide range of design options for regulatory experiments and offer implications for how regulatory experiments can be designed in such a way that they initiate learning processes that are as extensive as possible.