Economic Analysis of Suicide Prevention: Towards Evidence-Based Policy-Making (Economy and Social Inclusion)

This book examines the causes and consequences of suicide from the perspective of economics. The approach here differs from those in medical, psychiatric, epidemiological, and sociological studies of suicide and is thus novel in a way that highlights the importance of economic and institutional settings in the problem of suicide. The authors argue that suicide imposes a tremendous economic cost on contemporary society in a variety of ways, requiring the government to develop an effective prevention strategy. An empirical analysis using data from Japan and other developed countries shows that natural disasters and economic crises increase suicide rates, while liberal government policies favorable to the poor can decrease them. Further, the types of effective prevention strategies in the context of railway/subway suicides, celebrity suicides, public awareness campaigns, and education using data primarily from Japan are revealed. This book ultimately contributes to an understanding of suicides and the development of evidence-based policy proposals. The Japanese version of this book won the 56th Nikkei Prize for Economics Books (Nikkei Keizai Tosho Bunka Award) in 2013. Yasuyuki Sawada is Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank and Professor of Economics at The University of Tokyo. Michiko Ueda is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Political Science and Economics at Waseda University. Tetsuya Matsubayashi is Associate Professor of Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University.-- Provided by publisher Preface 6 Acknowledgements 8 Contents 9 About the Authors 12 1 Introduction 14 1 Introduction 14 2 Book Outline 17 2 Rationale Behind Suicide Prevention Policies 19 1 Introduction 19 2 Bereaved Family Members of Suicide Victims 20 2.1 Estimating the Number of People Who Became Bereaved in 1993–2006 21 Spouses 21 Siblings 21 Parents 22 Children 22 2.2 Estimating the Total Number of Living Bereaved Family Members in 2006 24 Estimating the Total Number of Living Family Members Who Became Bereaved from 1993 to 2006 24 Estimating the Total Number of Living Family Members Who Became Bereaved Before 1992 24 2.3 Results 26 Estimate of the Number of People Who Became Bereaved in 1993–2006 26 Estimate of the Total Number of Bereaved Family Members Who Were Living in 2006 27 Costs of Suicides in Japan 27 3 The Werther Effect 31 4 Social Costs of Suicide 32 4.1 Social Losses Caused by the Loss of Individuals 32 Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL) 33 4.2 Lifetime Work-Loss Cost of Suicide 36 5 Market Imperfections and Distortions in Incentives 39 5.1 Credit Market Imperfections 39 5.2 Life Insurance Market Imperfections 40 6 Conclusion 42 References 43 3 Socioeconomic Causes of Suicide 45 1 Introduction 45 2 Factors of Suicide Viewed from an Economic Standpoint 48 2.1 Income and Its Inequality 49 2.2 Economic Growth and Economic Crisis 49 2.3 Employment Situation 49 3 Suicide Trends in Japan Through Cross-National Comparison 50 4 Suicide Trends in Japan Viewed Chronologically: Jump, Inertia, Age Change, and Decline 52 4.1 Decomposition of Japanese Suicides 53 4.2 Increase in the Number of Suicides from 1997 to 1998 54 Decomposition of the 1997–1998 Suicide Growth Rate, by Gender, Age, and Population Structure 54 Decomposition of the 1997–1998 Suicide Growth Rate, by Gender, Age, and Reasons for Suicide 55 Decomposition of the 1997–1998 Suicide Growth Rate, by Employment Status and Reasons for Suicide 56 Decomposition of the 1997–1998 Suicide Growth Rate, by Gender and Means of Suicide 58 4.3 The Persistence of Suicide Since 1998 58 Decomposition of the Cumulative Suicide Growth Rate from 1998 to 2007, by Gender, Age, and Population Structure 61 Decomposition of the Cumulative Suicide Growth Rate from 1999 to 2006, by Gender, Age, and Reasons for Suicide 61 Decomposition of the Cumulative Suicide Growth Rate from 1999 to 2006, by Employment Status and Reasons for Suicide 62 Decomposition of Cumulative Suicide Growth Rate from 1998 to 2007, by Gender and Means of Suicide 65 4.4 The Link Between Economic Hardship and Suicide 66 4.5 Regression Analysis 69 Regression Model of Choi et al. (2012b, 2015) 69 Data 70 Estimation Results of Choi et al. (2012b, 2015) 74 5 Recent Decline 75 6 Concluding Remarks 77 References 79 4 Natural Disasters and Suicide 81 1 Introduction 81 2 Methodology and Data 83 3 Findings 89 4 Why Do Natural Disasters Reduce Suicide? 92 5 Great East Japan Earthquake and Suicide 96 6 Discussion 99 References 102 5 Suicide Among Adolescents and Young Individuals 105 1 Introduction 105 2 School Calendar and the Timing of Suicide 107 2.1 Methods 109 2.2 Results 111 2.3 Discussion 113 3 Relative Age and Suicide 114 3.1 Data and Method 116 3.2 Results 118 3.3 Discussion 121 References 123 6 Railway Suicide in Japan 126 1 Introduction 126 2 Descriptive Data of Railway Suicides in Japan 127 3 The Economic Costs of Railway Suicides 131 4 Prevention Strategies and Their Effectiveness 135 4.1 Platform Screen Doors 135 4.2 Blue Lights 140 References 145 7 Government Partisanship and Suicide 147 1 Introduction 147 2 Individual-Level Analysis 150 3 Country-Level Analysis 162 4 Conclusions 169 References 170 8 Economic and Welfare Policies and Suicide 172 1 Introduction 172 2 Relationship Between Economic and Welfare Policies and Suicide Rates 173 3 Data and Method 173 4 Estimated Results 181 5 Summary 185 References 186 9 The Effect of Government Suicide Prevention Programs 187 1 Introduction 187 2 The Effect of National Suicide Prevention Programs on Suicide Rates in 21 OECD Nations 188 2.1 Data and Method 189 2.2 Results 193 2.3 Discussion 196 3 Effect of Government Suicide Prevention Program on Suicide Rates in Japan 198 3.1 Data and Method 199 3.2 Results 202 3.3 Discussion 203 4 The Effect of Public Awareness Campaigns on Suicides in Nagoya City, Japan 204 4.1 Public Awareness Campaign in Nagoya 205 4.2 Data and Method 206 4.3 Results 208 4.4 Discussion 208 Acknowledgements 210 References 210 Annotation This book examines the causes and consequences of suicide from the perspective of economics. The approach here differs from those in medical, psychiatric, epidemiological, and sociological studies of suicide and is thus novel in a way that highlights the importance of economic and institutional settings in the problem of suicide. The authors argue that suicide imposes a tremendous economic cost on contemporary society in a variety of ways, requiring the government to develop an effective prevention strategy. An empirical analysis using data from Japan and other developed countries shows that natural disasters and economic crises increase suicide rates, while liberal government policies favorable to the poor can decrease them. Further, the types of effective prevention strategies in the context of railway/subway suicides, celebrity suicides, public awareness campaigns, and education using data primarily from Japan are revealed. This book ultimately contributes to an understanding of suicides and the development of evidence-based policy proposals. The Japanese version of this book won the 56th Nikkei Prize for Economics Books (Nikkei Keizai Tosho Bunka Award) in 2013 Front Matter ....Pages i-xiv Introduction (Yasuyuki Sawada, Michiko Ueda, Tetsuya Matsubayashi)....Pages 1-5 Rationale Behind Suicide Prevention Policies (Yasuyuki Sawada, Michiko Ueda, Tetsuya Matsubayashi)....Pages 7-32 Socioeconomic Causes of Suicide (Yasuyuki Sawada, Michiko Ueda, Tetsuya Matsubayashi)....Pages 33-68 Natural Disasters and Suicide (Yasuyuki Sawada, Michiko Ueda, Tetsuya Matsubayashi)....Pages 69-92 Suicide Among Adolescents and Young Individuals (Yasuyuki Sawada, Michiko Ueda, Tetsuya Matsubayashi)....Pages 93-113 Railway Suicide in Japan (Yasuyuki Sawada, Michiko Ueda, Tetsuya Matsubayashi)....Pages 115-135 Government Partisanship and Suicide (Yasuyuki Sawada, Michiko Ueda, Tetsuya Matsubayashi)....Pages 137-161 Economic and Welfare Policies and Suicide (Yasuyuki Sawada, Michiko Ueda, Tetsuya Matsubayashi)....Pages 163-177 The Effect of Government Suicide Prevention Programs (Yasuyuki Sawada, Michiko Ueda, Tetsuya Matsubayashi)....Pages 179-203