Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/322478 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Publisher: 
ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, Kiel, Hamburg
Abstract: 
The concept of Reallabore (real-world laboratories) has undergone remarkable semantic evolution in Germany - rooted in the experimental turn in social sciences, shaped in sustainability research, and culminating in national innovation policy. This paper frames Reallabore as a travelling concept: a term that shifts in meaning as it moves across institutional, disciplinary, and political contexts. Drawing on perspectives from economic geography, it traces four distinct phases in the evolution of the term, highlighting the tensions and strategic translations that have shaped its development. Understanding such conceptual trajectories is key to interpreting the performative power of innovation discourse in regional policymaking.
Subjects: 
Economic geography
travelling concept
real-world laboratory
innovation policy
experimental governance
JEL: 
O31
O38
R11
R58
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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