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Socio-economic determinants of suicide in Japan

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  • Andrés, Antonio R.
  • Halicioglu, Ferda
  • Yamamura, Eiji

Abstract

Japan has the highest suicide rates among the OECD countries and this public health problem seems to be accelerating in over the recent decades. Investigating and understanding the suicidal behaviour is of crucial importance to society and health policy makers. Such an investigation could provide with useful information for those responsible in formulating the national policies on suicide prevention. This study estimates dynamic econometric models for total, male and female suicides in Japan for the period of 1957–2009. Using the ARDL approach to cointegration, we find that the associations of suicide with sociological factors (divorce and fertility rates) were stronger than those with economic factors (per capita GDP and unemployment) for females.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrés, Antonio R. & Halicioglu, Ferda & Yamamura, Eiji, 2011. "Socio-economic determinants of suicide in Japan," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 723-731.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:40:y:2011:i:6:p:723-731
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2011.08.002
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    2. Yeran Sun & Ting On Chan & Jing Xie & Xuan Sun & Ying Huang, 2020. "Examining Spatial Association of Air Pollution and Suicide Rate Using Spatial Regression Models," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-10, September.
    3. Yamamura, Eiji, 2015. "Comparison of Social Trust's effect on suicide ideation between urban and non-urban areas: The Case of Japanese Adults in 2006," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 118-126.
    4. Yamamura, Eiji & Andrés, Antonio R., 2011. "Does corruption affect suicide? Empirical evidence from OECD countries," MPRA Paper 31622, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Ricard Grèbol Jiménez & Judit Vall Castelló, 2021. "The impact of temporary contracts on suicide rates," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(5), pages 1-21, May.
    6. Antonakakis, Nikolaos & Collins, Alan, 2018. "A suicidal Kuznets curve?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 90-93.
    7. Schaede Ulrike, 2013. "Sunshine and Suicides in Japan: revisiting the relevance of economic determinants of suicide," Contemporary Japan, De Gruyter, vol. 25(2), pages 105-126, August.
    8. 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.
    9. Halicioglu, Ferda & Ketenci, Natalya, 2016. "The impact of international trade on environmental quality: The case of transition countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 1130-1138.
    10. Mitch Kunce, 2022. "The Tenuous Ecological Divorce and Unemployment Link with Suicide: A U.S. Panel Analysis 1968-2020," Journal of Statistical and Econometric Methods, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 11(3), pages 1-2.
    11. Berta Rivera & Bruno Casal & Luis Currais, 2015. "The economic crisis and death by suicide in Spain: Empirical evidence based on a data panel and the quantification of losses in labour productivity," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 1507, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    12. Lobo, Gustavo D. & De Souza Almeida, Felipe M. & Danelon, André F. & Rocha, Adauto B. & Almeida, Alexandre N., 2020. "Could the agrochemical poisoning increase suicide attempts in the Brazilian rural areas? An econometric approach using spatial analysis methods," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304593, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Halicioglu, Ferda & Ketenci, Natalya, 2015. "The impact of international trade on environmental quality in transition countries: evidence from time series data during 1991-2013," MPRA Paper 71097, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2015.
    14. Halicioglu, Ferda & Yolac, Sema, 2015. "Testing the impact of unemployment on self-employment: empirical evidence from OECD countries," MPRA Paper 65026, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Abdou, Rawayda & Cassells, Damien & Berrill, Jenny & Hanly, Jim, 2020. "An empirical investigation of the relationship between business performance and suicide in the US," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    16. Ferda Halicioglu, 2013. "Dynamics of obesity in Finland," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(5), pages 644-657, October.
    17. Ferda Halıcıoğlu & Kasım Eren, 2017. "Testing Twin Deficits and Saving-Investment Nexus in Turkey," Yildiz Social Science Review, Yildiz Technical University, vol. 3(1), pages 35-46.
    18. Botha, Ferdi & Nguyen, Viet H., 2022. "Opposite nonlinear effects of unemployment and sentiment on male and female suicide rates: Evidence from Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    19. Eiji Yamamura, 2016. "Natural disasters and social capital formation: The impact of the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95, pages 143-164, March.
    20. Economou, Athina & Gavroglou, Stavros & Kollias, Christos, 2013. "Economic fluctuations and political self-placement," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 57-65.
    21. Christian Breuer, 2015. "Unemployment and Suicide Mortality: Evidence from Regional Panel Data in Europe," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(8), pages 936-950, August.
    22. 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.
    23. 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.
    24. Berta Rivera & Bruno Casal & Luis Currais, 2017. "Crisis, suicide and labour productivity losses in Spain," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 18(1), pages 83-96, January.
    25. 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.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cointegration; Suicide; Time series; Japan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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