Socio‐economic Studies on Suicide: A Survey

Abstract

In this article, we review economic theories and empirical studies on the socioeconomic aspects of suicide. Through our survey, we would like to emphasize the importance of studying suicide by employing a "rational" approach that complements the medical perspective on suicide, which assumes suicide to be the result of "irrational" behavior arising from mental illnesses such as depression and other psychiatric disorders. We first introduce major economic theories of suicide, followed by a summary of a variety of empirical studies from the socioeconomic perspective. We then discuss the recent developments in economic studies on suicide, on the basis of the authors' ongoing project on suicide. In the concluding section, we point out some issues for further studies.

Determinants of suicides in Denmark: Evidence from time series data

“…However, some studies [33], [34] show that birth rate has either a positive impact or no impact on suicide rates. One possible explanation for the latter result is that childcare may put excessive strain on a parent or be too much of an economic burden, thus leading to suicidal behavior [33].…”

The impact of fiscal austerity on suicide: On the empirics of a modern Greek tragedy

“…On this basis, they also posit a positive relationship between suicide rates and age, and an inverse relationship with permanent income which can be expected to boost expected cumulative lifetime utility. Based on the extensive and very comprehensive review of studies presented in Chen et al (2012), this study extracts a full set of a priori expectations for the macroeconomic performance and demographic control variables based on the consensus readily discernible in the literature. These are set out in Table 2.…”

“…Fiscal austerity refers to measures taken by governments (during downturns of economic activity) to reduce expenditures and increase tax revenues in an attempt to cut excessive levels of government budget deficits and debts. There are numerous empirical studies on the determinants of suicide rates which indicate that recessions and rises in unemployment rates are associated with suicide rates (see, the comprehensive survey and review of literature provided by Chen et al (2012) and the key literature highlighted in Chen et al (2010)). However, none of the reviewed studies specifically focuses on the effects of fiscal austerity (public expenditure reductions) on suicide.…”

Determinantes Socioeconômicos do Suicídio: um estudo para os municípios do Brasil e do Rio Grande do Sul

“…Para Chen et al (2010) e Gonçalves et al (2011), fatores econômicos, como o desemprego, a piora na expectativa de vida, a falta de previsibilidade quanto ao futuro, entre outros, também são mencionados entre os que contribuem para a piora da saúde mental dos indivíduos e que podem levar ao suicídio.…”