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Economic Reform and Mortality in the Former Soviet Union: A Study of the Suicide Epidemic in the 1990s

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Author Info
Brainerd, Elizabeth () (Williams College and Center for International Development, Harvard University and IZA, Bonn)
Abstract

Male suicide rates in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Baltic countries increased substantially in the early 1990s and are now the highest in the world. To what extent is this suicide epidemic explained by the macroeconomic instability experienced by these countries in that period? Fixed effects regressions across 22 transition economies indicate that male suicide rates are highly sensitive to the state of the macroeconomy, suggesting that the steep and prolonged declines in GDP in the western countries of the former Soviet Union may have been partly to blame for the suicide epidemic. Evidence also indicates that the general adult male mortality crisis in the region had a ‘feedback’ effect on suicide rates, with the loss of a spouse or friend - or declining life expectancy itself - contributing to rising suicide rates. Female suicide rates, in contrast, are insensitive to the state of the macroeconomy and are more strongly related to alcohol consumption.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 243.

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Length: 24 pages
Date of creation: Jan 2001
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp243

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Related research
Keywords: Suicide; mortality; transition economies;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Production
P20 - Economic Systems - - Socialist Systems and Transition Economies - - - General

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Christopher J. Ruhm, 2000. "Are Recessions Good For Your Health?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(2), pages 617-650, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-55, March-Apr. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Hamermesh, Daniel S & Soss, Neal M, 1974. "An Economic Theory of Suicide," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(1), pages 83-98, Jan.-Feb.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. David M. Cutler & Edward Glaeser & Karen Norberg, 2000. "Explaining the Rise in Youth Suicide," NBER Working Papers 7713, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Brainerd, Elizabeth, 1998. "Winners and Losers in Russia's Economic Transition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(5), pages 1094-1116, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Ivaschenko, Oleksiy, 2004. "Longevity in Russia's Regions: Do Poverty and Low Public Health Spending Kill?," Working Papers UNU-WIDER Research Paper , World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
  2. Altay Mussurov & Paul Mosley, 2007. "Economic Crisis and Political Participation in a Transitional Economy: Evidence from Russia," WEF Working Papers 0019, ESRC World Economy and Finance Research Programme, Birkbeck, University of London. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-11-9.

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