Cournot or Stackelberg Competition? A Survey of Experimental Research

In this paper, I survey experimental studies on duopolistic quantity competition with homogeneous products and duopolistic price competition with heterogeneous products. The focus is on the papers in which the sequence of competition is endogenous. Experimental studies checking Cournot competition against Stackelberg competition act as benchmarks. I find that while Stackelberg equilibrium outcomes are seldom under quantity competition, under price competition, the Stackelberg equilibrium prediction seems to be more appropriate. However, after discussing the experimental setups, I conclude that some methodological problems are present. Moreover, I make recommendations for further research.