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Does unemployment increase suicide rates? The OECD panel evidence

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  • Noh, Yong-Hwan

Abstract

Previous studies of whether unemployment increases suicide rates give mixed results. None of them controlled for an interaction between unemployment and income. This paper tests the hypothesis whether the relationship between unemployment rates and suicide rates vary according to the level of real per capita GDP. We use the cross-country panel fixed effects approach to exclude cross-sectional variations but exploit time-series ones. We support that higher income is associated with higher suicide rates. In particular, the evidence shows that the implied effect of unemployment on suicide rates is positive for countries with higher income. Actually, for countries with lower-income levels, there is a negative impact of unemployment on suicides.

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  • Noh, Yong-Hwan, 2009. "Does unemployment increase suicide rates? The OECD panel evidence," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 575-582, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:30:y:2009:i:4:p:575-582
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    1. Andrew Phiri & Doreen Mukuku, 2020. "Does unemployment aggravate suicide rates in South Africa? Some empirical evidence," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 78(4), pages 532-560, October.
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    5. Evan Lau & Siti Nur Zahara Hamzah & Sandra Chia Chia Tan & Biagio Simonetti, 2017. "Suicide and socioeconomic determinants in Canada: beyond morality and philosophy," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1843-1858, July.
    6. Oscar Claveria, 2022. "“Modelling the dynamic interaction between economic uncertainty, growth, unemployment and suicide”," AQR Working Papers 202206, University of Barcelona, Regional Quantitative Analysis Group, revised Jun 2022.
    7. Bussu, Anna & Detotto, Claudio & Sterzi, Valerio, 2013. "Social conformity and suicide," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 67-78.
    8. Lien, Donald & Zhang, Shuo, 2020. "Words matter life: The effect of language on suicide behavior," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    9. Gerardo Ruiz Sánchez, 2022. "COVID-19 and suicides in the United States: an early empirical assessment," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(7), pages 1-11, July.
    10. Fervers, Lukas, 2018. "Can public employment schemes break the negative spiral of long-term unemployment, social exclusion and loss of skills? Evidence from Germany," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 18-33.
    11. Claudio Detotto & Valerio Sterzi, 2011. "The role of family in suicide rate in Italy," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 31(2), pages 1509-1519.
    12. Phillips, Julie A. & Nugent, Colleen N., 2014. "Suicide and the Great Recession of 2007–2009: The role of economic factors in the 50 U.S. states," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 22-31.
    13. Mohseni-Cheraghlou, Amin, 2013. "Labor markets and mental wellbeing: Labor market conditions and suicides in the United States (1979–2004)," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 175-186.
    14. Benno Torgler & Christoph A. Schaltegger, 2012. "Suicide and Religion: New Evidence on The Differences Between Protestantism and Catholicism," CREMA Working Paper Series 2012-12, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    15. Chungah Kim & Youngtae Cho, 2017. "Does Unstable Employment Have an Association with Suicide Rates among the Young?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-14, April.
    16. Claveria, Oscar, 2022. "Global economic uncertainty and suicide: Worldwide evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    17. Okada, Keisuke & Samreth, Sovannroeun, 2013. "A study on the socio-economic determinants of suicide: Evidence from 13 European OECD countries," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 78-85.
    18. Stavrova, Olga & Schlösser, Thomas & Fetchenhauer, Detlef, 2011. "Are the unemployed equally unhappy all around the world? The role of the social norms to work and welfare state provision in 28 OECD countries," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 159-171, February.
    19. Ferdi Botha, 2012. "The Economics Of Suicide In South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 80(4), pages 526-552, December.
    20. Sanna Huikari & Marko Korhonen, 2016. "The Impact of Unemployment on Well-Being: Evidence from the Regional Level Suicide Data in Finland," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 1103-1119, September.
    21. Andrés, Antonio Rodríguez & Chakraborty, Bidisha & Dasgupta, Piyali & Mitra, Siddhartha, 2014. "Realizing the significance of socio-economic triggers for mental health outcomes in India," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 50-57.
    22. Benno Torgler & Christoph A. Schaltegger, 2012. "Suicide and Religion: New Evidence on The Differences Between Protestantism and Catholicism," CREMA Working Paper Series 2012-12, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    23. Nikolaos Antonakakis & Rangan Gupta, 2017. "Is Economic Policy Uncertainty Related to Suicide Rates? Evidence from the United States," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(2), pages 543-560, September.
    24. Eiji Yamamura & Antonio Andrés & Marina Katsaiti, 2012. "Does Corruption Affect suicide? Econometric Evidence from OECD Countries," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 40(2), pages 133-145, June.
    25. Christian Acevedo Navas, 2010. "¿Influye la realIdad económIca en el suicidio?," Revista de Economía del Caribe 7805, Universidad del Norte.

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