Graphical analyses of occupation-wise suicide risk in Japan

I construct data on the numbers of workers and suicide victims in their working ages in Japan from 1980 to 2010 for each of 10 occupation classes and for males and females separately. I document a complex transition of the job profiles of occupation classes, and establish a correspondence between Japanese and international job classifications. Four general characteristics of occupation-wise suicide risk in Japan emerge from graphical analyses of constructed data. First, heterogeneous aging patterns of suicide deaths and numbers of workers create complex aging patterns of suicide rates. Second, the age-adjustment and stabilizations of suicide rates are crucial for an accurate measurement and a fair comparison of suicide risk for workers in each occupation or over the entire economy. Third, the surge of overall suicide risk in Japan since 1998 might be driven by that in few occupations for each gender. Particularly, (a) a high suicide-risk profiles for male workers in agricultural, forestry and fishery and jobless categories has been stable over time, hence not a main culprit of such surge, and (b) less informative patterns of female suicide rates may be a consequence of the cancellations of higher suicide risk in some occupations and lower suicide risk in any other occupations during such surge. Fourth, gender- and occupation-wise pattern of suicide risk is further confounded with heterogeneity across regions.