Building an effective innovation network is an important path for latecomers to catch-up．What kind of innovation network is effective to different latecomers? To deepen innovation network research，this study sets out from the perspective of knowledge configuration and focuses on network level partners’allocation.A logic model is built which chooses industry characteristics as the context，the knowledge base breadth / depth as focal firm characteristics，knowledge heterogeneity / quality as the innovation network’s composition condition，and high innovation catch-up performance as the outcome variable． Finally，three configuration types are found which can lead to high innovation catch-up performance．What’s more，different latecomers should adopt different configuration types to achieve higher performance under different industry characteristics．Thus，this study offers both theoretical and practical references to building effective innovation networks for latecomers．