IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/jrapmc/339972.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Counties with More Vietnam Veterans Have Higher Suicide Rates

Author

Listed:
  • 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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/339972/files/Roach.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.339972?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Isaiah Andrews & Timothy B. Armstrong, 2017. "Unbiased instrumental variables estimation under known first‐stage sign," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 8(2), pages 479-503, July.
    2. David S. Lee & Justin McCrary & Marcelo J. Moreira & Jack Porter, 2022. "Valid t-Ratio Inference for IV," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(10), pages 3260-3290, October.
    3. 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).
    4. William N. Evans & Ethan M. J. Lieber & Patrick Power, 2019. "How the Reformulation of OxyContin Ignited the Heroin Epidemic," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(1), pages 1-15, March.
    5. David J. Hebert & Noah J. Trudeau & George R. Crowley, 2018. "Compensating Suicide," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 33(Winter 20), pages 45-60.
    6. Griffin Edwards & Erik Nesson & Joshua J. Robinson & Fredrick Vars, 2018. "Looking Down the Barrel of a Loaded Gun: The Effect of Mandatory Handgun Purchase Delays on Homicide and Suicide," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(616), pages 3117-3140, December.
    7. Rupasingha, Anil & Goetz, Stephan J. & Freshwater, David, 2006. "The production of social capital in US counties," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 83-101, February.
    8. Huguet, N. & Kaplan, M.S. & McFarland, B.H., 2014. "The effects of misclassification biases on veteran suicide rate estimates," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(1), pages 151-155.
    9. John Helliwell, 2007. "Well-Being and Social Capital: Does Suicide Pose a Puzzle?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 81(3), pages 455-496, May.
    10. Bullman, T.A. & Kang, M.K., 1996. "The risk of suicide among wounded Vietnam veterans," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 86(5), pages 662-667.
    11. Keisuke Hirano & Jack R. Porter, 2015. "Location Properties of Point Estimators in Linear Instrumental Variables and Related Models," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(6-10), pages 720-733, December.
    12. Hamermesh, Daniel S & Soss, Neal M, 1974. "An Economic Theory of Suicide," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(1), pages 83-98, Jan.-Feb..
    13. Marko Korhonen & Mikko Puhakka & Matti Viren, 2016. "Economic hardship and suicide mortality in Finland, 1875–2010," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 17(2), pages 129-137, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marko Korhonen & Mikko Puhakka & Matti Viren, 2017. "Economic hardship and suicides," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 44(10), pages 1348-1360, October.
    2. Zhai, Muxin & Kishan, Ruby P. & Showalter, Dean, 2022. "Social capital and suicidal behaviors: Evidence from the United States counties," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Sascha O. Becker & Ludger Woessmann, 2018. "Social Cohesion, Religious Beliefs, and the Effect of Protestantism on Suicide," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(3), pages 377-391, July.
    4. Andrés, Antonio R. & Halicioglu, Ferda, 2010. "Determinants of suicides in Denmark: Evidence from time series data," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(2-3), pages 263-269, December.
    5. Yamamura, Eiji & Andrés, Antonio R., 2011. "Does corruption affect suicide? Empirical evidence from OECD countries," MPRA Paper 31622, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Jetter, Michael & Walker, Jay K., 2022. "News coverage and mass shootings in the US," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    7. Angrist, Joshua & Kolesár, Michal, 2024. "One instrument to rule them all: The bias and coverage of just-ID IV," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 240(2).
    8. Eleftherios Goulas & Athina Zervoyianni, 2023. "Suicide mortality, long‐term unemployment, and labor‐market policies: Evidence from European countries," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(4), pages 1112-1139, October.
    9. Michael Keane & Timothy Neal, 2021. "A Practical Guide to Weak Instruments," Discussion Papers 2021-05b, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    10. Marko Korhonen & Mikko Puhakka & Matti Viren, 2016. "Economic hardship and suicide mortality in Finland, 1875–2010," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 17(2), pages 129-137, March.
    11. Becker, Sascha O. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2011. "Knocking on Heaven’s Door? Protestantism and Suicide," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 966, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    12. Yong-Hwan Noh, 2010. "To be or not to be: an economic shock, stress and suicidal ideation," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 55-60, January.
    13. 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.
    14. 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.
    15. Joe Chen & Yun Jeong Choi & Kohta Mori & Yasuyuki Sawada & Saki Sugano, 2012. "Socio‐Economic Studies On Suicide: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 271-306, April.
    16. 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).
    17. Tetsuya Kaji, 2021. "Theory of Weak Identification in Semiparametric Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(2), pages 733-763, March.
    18. Borgschulte, Mark & Corredor-Waldron, Adriana & Marshall, Guillermo, 2018. "A path out: Prescription drug abuse, treatment, and suicide," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 169-184.
    19. 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.
    20. Wen-Yi Chen & Tsangyao Chang & Yu-Hui Lin, 2018. "Investigating the Persistence of Suicide in the United States: Evidence from the Quantile Unit Root Test," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 813-833, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health Economics and Policy;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:jrapmc:339972. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mcrsaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.