Paper to be presented at the 35th DRUID Celebration Conference 2013, Barcelona, Spain, June 17-19 The coevolution of innovative ties and technological proximity - Towards a Dynamic Approach of Innovation Networks Susanne Hinzmann Friedrich Schiller University Jena Department of Economics/ Chair of Microeconomic Theory susanne.hinzmann@uni-jena.de Tina Wolf Friedrich Schiller University Jena Department of Economics/ Chair of Microeconomic Theory tina.wolf@uni-jena.de Uwe Cantner Friedrich Schiller University Jena Department of Economics uwe.cantner@uni-jena.de Abstract In innovation research it is widely acknowledged that different dimensions of proximity influence the success of research collaborations and consequently the choice of cooperation partners (Boschma, 2005). However, the interrelations between these dimensions are still hardly explored. Furthermore, the research on the influence of these proximity dimensions on network evolution in the framework of a dynamical analysis is still at an early stage. Seminal studies merely focus on the investigation of static network structures (Giuliani, 2007; Morrison and Rabellotti, 2009; Giuliani and Bell, 2005). Moreover, the relation between certain proximity dimensions and the network configuration is by no means unidirectional (ter Wal and Boschma, 2011). In fact, individual characteristic, such as technological capabilities, and thus the proximity to others coevolve over time with the network (ter Wal and Boschma, 2011). In this paper we make a start in analyzing this interplay between the common evolutions of these factors. We focus on the examination of innovator networks (Cantner and Graf, 2006) and ask the following research question: In how far does the knowledge transfer in research collaboration account for the persistency or non-persistency in cooperation patterns? As we assume other dimensions to be rather static (institutional and organizational proximity), we especially focus on the evolution of technological proximity (induced by knowledge transfer) as an explanatory variable for the formation and break-up of