We study the relative effectiveness of exit (divestment and boycott) and voice (engagement) strategies in promoting socially desirable outcomes in companies. We show that in a competitive world exit is less effective than voice in pushing firms to act in a socially responsible manner. Furthermore, we demonstrate that individual incentives to join an exit strategy are not necessarily aligned with social incentives, whereas they are when well-diversified investors are allowed to express their voice. We discuss what social and legal considerations might sometimes make exit preferable to voice.
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Citation
Broccardo, E, O Hart and L Zingales (eds) (2020), “DP15176 Exit vs. Voice”, CEPR Press Discussion Paper No. 15176. https://cepr.org/publications/dp15176
