7 Exit, voice and the impact of regional, national and European identification An integration and empirical test of Albert Hirschman's theory and the theory of collective action Karl-Dieter Opp Introduction Assume you live in Leipzig (or another city) and you are dissatisfied with the living conditions: public transportation is unreliable and the crime rate is high. What will you do? One option is to move to another place. This is the exit option. Second, you do something to improve the situation. For example, you might establish a citizen initiative. This is the voice option, i.e., you raise your voice to change circumstances. A third choice is inactivity. When will you choose which alternative? It is this question that the present chapter seeks to answer. In particular, we will focus on one set of factors: the identification with the region where one lives or with regions that this region is part of. For example, you strongly identify with Leipzig. What effects will this have? Will this prompt you to stay and protest, or will you move? Or is identification just a feeling that does not have any behavioral consequence? Leipzig is part of Germany and Europe. If you identify with Germany or Europe: will this affect your behavior? Even if identification influences your behavior there will be other factors. This raises another question dealt with here: what are these other factors and how do they influence your decision to raise your voice, to move or to do nothing? This introductory paragraph and this chapter in general avoid the concept of identity because this concept is vague and used inconsistently. We focus on one meaning of "identity", namely, "identification". If we use the identity concept we could formulate the topic of this chapter in the following way: to what extent does European, national and local identity, along with other factors, have an impact on engaging in voice, on moving or on doing nothing? In answering these questions I will draw on two theories. Because one of the possible options in case of discontent with the living conditions is collective action such as protesting, there are two prominent theories that could be applied. One is the theory of collective action, based on Mancur Olson's (1965) seminal l Opp, Karl-Dieter. 2016. "Exit, Voice, and the Impact of Regional, National and European Identification. An Integration and Empirical Test of Albert Hirschman's Theory and the Theory of Collective Action." Pp. 115-141 in Dynamics of National Identity, Media and Societal Factors of What We Are, edited by J. Grimm, J. Seethaler, and P. Schmidt. London and New York: Routledge.