IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecosys/v41y2017i2p266-278.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Revisiting the relationship between suicide and unemployment: Evidence from linear and nonlinear cointegration

Author

Listed:
  • Chang, Tsangyao
  • Chen, Wen-Yi

Abstract

This study employs the linear and nonlinear ARDL cointegration methodologies to examine the potential symmetric and asymmetric responses of suicide rates to unemployment rates in the US from 1928 to 2013. Our results suggest that suicide rates are pro-cyclical with respect to the business cycle (measured by changes in the unemployment rate) after extensively controlling for divorce and fertility rates. Unemployment has symmetric long-run effects on the age-adjusted suicide rate and four age-specific (from ages 25–34 to 55–64) suicide rates, while the effect of an economic expansion on suicide rates for those aged over 45 is greater than the effect of an economic recession. These findings imply that the effect of an economic expansion on the decrease of the suicide rate is higher than the effect of an economic recession on the increase of the suicide rate for individuals aged over 45. Therefore, intervention designed to reduce suicidal behaviors should emphasize periods of economic recession more than periods of economic expansion for those of middle age and beyond.

Suggested Citation

  • Chang, Tsangyao & Chen, Wen-Yi, 2017. "Revisiting the relationship between suicide and unemployment: Evidence from linear and nonlinear cointegration," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 266-278.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecosys:v:41:y:2017:i:2:p:266-278
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecosys.2016.06.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0939362517300110
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecosys.2016.06.004?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tiwari, Aviral Kumar, 2014. "The asymmetric Granger-causality analysis between energy consumption and income in the United States," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 362-369.
    2. Wu, Wen-Chieh & Cheng, Hui-Pei, 2010. "Symmetric mortality and asymmetric suicide cycles," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 1974-1981, June.
    3. 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.
    4. Strøm,Steinar (ed.), 1999. "Econometrics and Economic Theory in the 20th Century," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521633659, October.
    5. Delatte, Anne-Laure & López-Villavicencio, Antonia, 2012. "Asymmetric exchange rate pass-through: Evidence from major countries," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 833-844.
    6. Hatemi-J, Abdulnasser, 2012. "Is the UAE stock market integrated with the USA stock market? New evidence from asymmetric causality testing," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 273-280.
    7. M. Hashem Pesaran & Yongcheol Shin & Richard J. Smith, 2001. "Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 289-326.
    8. repec:ipg:wpaper:2014-569 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Paresh Kumar Narayan, 2006. "Determinants of Female Fertility in Taiwan, 1966–2001: Empirical Evidence from Cointegration and Variance Decomposition Analysis," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 393-407, December.
    10. Greenwood-Nimmo, Matthew & Shin, Yongcheol, 2013. "Taxation and the asymmetric adjustment of selected retail energy prices in the UK," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 121(3), pages 411-416.
    11. Abdulnasser Hatemi-J, 2012. "Asymmetric causality tests with an application," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 447-456, August.
    12. Atil, Ahmed & Lahiani, Amine & Nguyen, Duc Khuong, 2014. "Asymmetric and nonlinear pass-through of crude oil prices to gasoline and natural gas prices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 567-573.
    13. Katrakilidis, Constantinos & Trachanas, Emmanouil, 2012. "What drives housing price dynamics in Greece: New evidence from asymmetric ARDL cointegration," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 1064-1069.
    14. Coope, Caroline & Gunnell, David & Hollingworth, William & Hawton, Keith & Kapur, Nav & Fearn, Vanessa & Wells, Claudia & Metcalfe, Chris, 2014. "Suicide and the 2008 economic recession: Who is most at risk? Trends in suicide rates in England and Wales 2001–2011," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 76-85.
    15. T. J. Classen & R. A. Dunn, 2011. "Suicide, social integration and fertility rates," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(11), pages 1011-1014.
    16. H. Naci Mocan & Turan G. Bali, 2010. "Asymmetric Crime Cycles," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(4), pages 899-911, November.
    17. Peter Romilly & Haiyan Song & Xiaming Liu, 2001. "Car ownership and use in Britain: a comparison of the empirical results of alternative cointegration estimation methods and forecasts," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(14), pages 1803-1818.
    18. Hatemi-J, Abdulnasser, 2014. "Asymmetric generalized impulse responses with an application in finance," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 18-22.
    19. 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.
    20. Phillips, Julie A. & Nugent, Colleen N., 2014. "Suicide and the Great Recession of 2007–2009: The role of economic factors in the 50 U.S. states," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 22-31.
    21. Allison Milner & Andrew Page & Anthony D LaMontagne, 2013. "Long-Term Unemployment and Suicide: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(1), pages 1-6, January.
    22. Robin C. Sickles & William C. Horrace (ed.), 2014. "Festschrift in Honor of Peter Schmidt," Springer Books, Springer, edition 127, number 978-1-4899-8008-3, July.
    23. Strøm,Steinar (ed.), 1999. "Econometrics and Economic Theory in the 20th Century," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521633239, October.
    24. Antonakakis, Nikolaos & Collins, Alan, 2014. "The impact of fiscal austerity on suicide: On the empirics of a modern Greek tragedy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 39-50.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Andrew Phiri & Doreen Mukuku, 2020. "Does unemployment aggravate suicide rates in South Africa? Some empirical evidence," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 78(4), pages 532-560, October.
    2. 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.
    3. Abdou, Rawayda & Cassells, Damien & Berrill, Jenny & Hanly, Jim, 2022. "Revisiting the relationship between economic uncertainty and suicide: An alternative approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    4. 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).
    5. 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).
    6. Mitch Kunce, 2023. "Unemployment and Suicide in the United States: The Import of Addressing Cross-Sectional Dependence," Bulletin of Applied Economics, Risk Market Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 1-19.
    7. Claveria, Oscar, 2022. "Global economic uncertainty and suicide: Worldwide evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    8. Tsangyao CHANG & Yifei CAI & Wen-Yi CHEN, 2017. "Are Suicide Rate Fluctuations Transitory or Permanent? Panel KSS Unit Root Test with a Fourier Function through the Sequential Panel Selection Method," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(3), pages 5-17, September.
    9. Tao, Hung-Lin & Cheng, Hui-Pei, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty and subjective health: A gender perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).

    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. Fousekis, Panos & Katrakilidis, Constantinos & Trachanas, Emmanouil, 2016. "Vertical price transmission in the US beef sector: Evidence from the nonlinear ARDL model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 52(PB), pages 499-506.
    2. Anthony N. Rezitis, 2019. "Investigating price transmission in the Finnish dairy sector: an asymmetric NARDL approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 861-900, September.
    3. Yu-Hu LIN & Wen-Yi CHEN, 2018. "On the Relationship between Business Cycle and Fertility Rate in Taiwan: Evidence from the Nonlinear Cointegration Methodology," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(1), pages 140-156, December.
    4. 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.
    5. Sy-Hoa HO, 2015. "Long-run determinants of sovereign bond index in emerging market: New evidence from asymmetric and nonlinear pass-through," Documents de recherche 15-02, Centre d'Études des Politiques Économiques (EPEE), Université d'Evry Val d'Essonne.
    6. Ullah, Assad & Zhao, Xinshun & Kamal, Muhammad Abdul & Zheng, JiaJia, 2020. "Modeling the relationship between military spending and stock market development (a) symmetrically in China: An empirical analysis via the NARDL approach," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 554(C).
    7. Pal, Debdatta & Mitra, Subrata K., 2016. "Asymmetric oil product pricing in India: Evidence from a multiple threshold nonlinear ARDL model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 314-328.
    8. De Vita, Glauco & Trachanas, Emmanouil, 2016. "‘Nonlinear causality between crude oil price and exchange rate: A comparative study of China and India’ — A failed replication (negative Type 1 and Type 2)," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 150-160.
    9. Jammazi, Rania & Lahiani, Amine & Nguyen, Duc Khuong, 2015. "A wavelet-based nonlinear ARDL model for assessing the exchange rate pass-through to crude oil prices," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 173-187.
    10. Pal, Debdatta & Mitra, Subrata Kumar, 2015. "Asymmetric impact of crude price on oil product pricing in the United States: An application of multiple threshold nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 436-443.
    11. Jitendra Sharma & Subrata Kumar Mitra, 2021. "Asymmetric relationship between tourist arrivals and employment," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(5), pages 952-970, August.
    12. Karakotsios, Achillefs & Katrakilidis, Constantinos & Kroupis, Nikolaos, 2021. "The dynamic linkages between food prices and oil prices. Does asymmetry matter?," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    13. Bagnai, Alberto & Mongeau Ospina, Christian Alexander, 2015. "Long- and short-run price asymmetries and hysteresis in the Italian gasoline market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 41-50.
    14. repec:ipg:wpaper:2014-082 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Abderrazak Dhaoui & Sami Bacha, 2017. "Investor emotional biases and trading volume’s asymmetric response: A non-linear ARDL approach tested in S&P500 stock market," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 1274225-127, January.
    16. Alsamara, Mouyad & Mrabet, Zouhair & Hatemi-J, Abdulnasser, 2020. "Pass-through of import cost into consumer prices and inflation in GCC countries: Evidence from a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lags model," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 89-101.
    17. 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.
    18. Liang, Chin Chia & Troy, Carol & Rouyer, Ellen, 2020. "U.S. uncertainty and Asian stock prices: Evidence from the asymmetric NARDL model," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    19. Benkraiem, Ramzi & Lahiani, Amine & Miloudi, Anthony & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2019. "The asymmetric role of shadow economy in the energy-growth nexus in Bolivia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 405-417.
    20. Adnen Ben Nasr & Juncal Cunado & Rıza Demirer & Rangan Gupta, 2018. "Country Risk Ratings and Stock Market Returns in Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRICS) Countries: A Nonlinear Dynamic Approach," Risks, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-22, September.
    21. Rafiq, Shuddhasattwa & Bloch, Harry, 2016. "Explaining commodity prices through asymmetric oil shocks: Evidence from nonlinear models," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 34-48.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unemployment; Suicide; ARDL model; NARDL model; Asymmetry;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C3 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers

    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:eee:ecosys:v:41:y:2017:i:2:p:266-278. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/osteide.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.