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Counties with More Vietnam Veterans Have Higher Suicide Rates

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  • Roach, Travis
  • Nath, Saheli

Abstract

Despite a deep concern from policymakers and the public alike, detailed records linking military service records and suicide do not exist on a national scale. Here, we determine how suicide rates are related to the veteran population by linking data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) at the county-level with estimates of veteran populations by service period from the American Community Survey. While this is an indirect approach, this panel analysis allows us to uncover a robust and persistent finding: counties with larger Vietnam veteran populations have higher suicide rates. Our modeling strategy includes standard panel data methodology, sub-state analysis based on the adoption of Child Access Prevention laws governing firearms, and a recent innovation in instrumental variables methodology coupled with county birth records from lottery years as an instrument. Ultimately, we find that a standard deviation increase in the Vietnam veteran population is associated with 1.9 to 6 additional suicides per 100,000 people.

Suggested Citation

  • Roach, Travis & Nath, Saheli, 2023. "Counties with More Vietnam Veterans Have Higher Suicide Rates," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 53(1), April.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:jrapmc:339972
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.339972
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    References listed on IDEAS

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