My dissertation focuses on dynamic firm competition and academic entrepreneurship. The first essay studies the dynamics and equilibrium outcomes of a duopoly in which firms make decisions about both capacity expansion and cost reduction. The second essay is an extension of the framework used in the first essay to study the strategic roles of exogenous spillovers and absorptive capacity. The third essay examines the effects of the Bayh-Dole Act (1980) and the Pasteurs Quadrant effects on a faculty's research efforts over a career life cycle, taking into account research preferences and productivities, spillovers among different types of research knowledge, and monetary payoffs. The last essay further looks at a professors transition between academia and entrepreneurship. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]