Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Midpoint

A few interesting observations:

1) Hirschman notes that lazy quasi-monopolies with public subsidies might like it when dissatisfied users exit instead of protesting. Public schools are happy if the most demanding parents transfer to private schools instead of going to School Board meetings. The Postal Service might be OK if (some but not all) demanding customers use FedEx instead of calling their congressman.

On one level this is obvious. But it's also economically interesting to note how organizations cushioned against market forces might get worse rather than better in the presence of competitive outlets.

2) He notes that similar things apply in politics. Some poorly-run countries prefer if former politicians move abroad rather than critiquing successors. Some countries are happy if dissidents go into exile, and might even leave them alone to send the message that exile is a great choice.