IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v112y2014icp39-50.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Antonakakis, Nikolaos
  • Collins, Alan

Abstract

Suicide rates in Greece (and other European countries) have been on a remarkable upward trend following the global recession of 2008 and the European sovereign debt crisis of 2009. However, recent investigations of the impact on Greek suicide rates from the 2008 financial crisis have restricted themselves to simple descriptive or correlation analyses. Controlling for various socio–economic effects, this study presents a statistically robust model to explain the influence on realised suicidality of the application of fiscal austerity measures and variations in macroeconomic performance over the period 1968–2011. The responsiveness of suicide to levels of fiscal austerity is established as a means of providing policy guidance on the extent of suicide behaviour associated with different fiscal austerity measures. The results suggest (i) significant age and gender specificity in these effects on suicide rates and that (ii) remittances have suicide-reducing effects on the youth and female population. These empirical regularities potentially offer some guidance on the demographic targeting of suicide prevention measures and the case for ‘economic’ migration.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:112:y:2014:i:c:p:39-50
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.04.019
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953614002433
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.04.019?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. Bernhard Rauch & Max Göttsche & Gernot Brähler & Stefan Engel, 2011. "Fact and Fiction in EU‐Governmental Economic Data," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 12(3), pages 243-255, August.
    2. Alberto Alesina & Silvia Ardagna, 2010. "Large Changes in Fiscal Policy: Taxes versus Spending," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 24, pages 35-68, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    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. Jungeilges, Jochen & Kirchgassner, Gebhard, 2002. "Economic welfare, civil liberty, and suicide: an empirical investigation," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 215-231.
    5. Kuroki, Masanori, 2010. "Suicide and unemployment in Japan: Evidence from municipal level suicide rates and age-specific suicide rates," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 683-691, December.
    6. Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Johannesson, Magnus, 2003. "A note on the effect of unemployment on mortality," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 505-518, May.
    7. 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..
    8. Minoiu, Camelia & Andres, Antonio Rodriguez, 2008. "The effect of public spending on suicide: Evidence from U.S. state data," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 237-261, February.
    9. John Bluedorn & Daniel Leigh, 2011. "Revisiting the Twin Deficits Hypothesis: The Effect of Fiscal Consolidation on the Current Account," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 59(4), pages 582-602, November.
    10. Chen, Ying-Yeh & Yip, Paul S.F. & Lee, Carmen & Fan, Hsiang-Fang & Fu, King-Wa, 2010. "Economic fluctuations and suicide: A comparison of Taiwan and Hong Kong," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(12), pages 2083-2090, December.
    11. Jahyeong Koo & W. Michael Cox, 2008. "An Economic Interpretation Of Suicide Cycles In Japan," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 26(1), pages 162-174, January.
    12. Antonio Rodriguez Andres, 2005. "Income inequality, unemployment, and suicide: a panel data analysis of 15 European countries," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 439-451.
    13. Matti Viren, 2005. "Suicide and business cycles: new empirical evidence," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(14), pages 887-891.
    14. Mr. Daniel Leigh & Mr. Andrea Pescatori & Mr. Jaime Guajardo, 2011. "Expansionary Austerity New International Evidence," IMF Working Papers 2011/158, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Neumayer, Eric, 2004. "Recessions lower (some) mortality rates:: evidence from Germany," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 1037-1047, March.
    16. Beetsma, Roel & Giuliodori, Massimo & Hanson, Jesper, 2012. "Budgetary consolidation under different exchange rate regimes," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 912-916.
    17. Matsubayashi, Tetsuya & Ueda, Michiko, 2011. "The effect of national suicide prevention programs on suicide rates in 21 OECD nations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(9), pages 1395-1400.
    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. Antonakakis, Nikolaos & Collins, Alan, 2018. "A suicidal Kuznets curve?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 90-93.
    2. Antonakakis, Nikolaos, 2013. "Fiscal Austerity, Unemployment and Suicide Rates in Greece," MPRA Paper 45198, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Nikolaos Antonakakis & Nikolaos Antonakakis & Alan Collins, 2014. "Does Fiscal Consolidation Really Get You Down? Evidence from Suicide Mortality," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp182, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    4. Mohseni-Cheraghlou, Amin, 2013. "Labor markets and mental wellbeing: Labor market conditions and suicides in the United States (1979–2004)," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 175-186.
    5. Andrés, Antonio R. & Halicioglu, Ferda & Yamamura, Eiji, 2011. "Socio-economic determinants of suicide in Japan," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 723-731.
    6. 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.
    7. Schaede Ulrike, 2013. "Sunshine and Suicides in Japan: revisiting the relevance of economic determinants of suicide," Contemporary Japan, De Gruyter, vol. 25(2), pages 105-126, August.
    8. Tomasz Piotr Wisniewski & Brendan John Lambe & Keshab Shrestha, 2020. "Do Stock Market Fluctuations Affect Suicide Rates?," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 43(4), pages 737-765, December.
    9. De-Chih Liu, 2017. "The Discouraged Worker and Suicide in the United States," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(2), pages 771-787, November.
    10. Ferdi Botha, 2012. "The Economics Of Suicide In South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 80(4), pages 526-552, December.
    11. Yamamura, Eiji, 2015. "Comparison of Social Trust's effect on suicide ideation between urban and non-urban areas: The Case of Japanese Adults in 2006," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 118-126.
    12. 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.
    13. Eiji Yamamura, 2015. "Comparison of Social Capital's Effect on Consideration of Suicide between Urban and Rural Areas," ISER Discussion Paper 0933, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    14. Justina AV Fischer & Antonio Rodriguez-Andr�s, 2008. "Political institutions and suicide: A regional analysis of Switzerland," TWI Research Paper Series 33, Thurgauer Wirtschaftsinstitut, Universität Konstanz.
    15. Antonakakis, Nikolaos & Collins, Alan, 2015. "The impact of fiscal austerity on suicide mortality: Evidence across the ‘Eurozone periphery’," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 63-78.
    16. Nikolaos Antonakakis & Rangan Gupta, 2017. "Is Economic Policy Uncertainty Related to Suicide Rates? Evidence from the United States," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(2), pages 543-560, September.
    17. Noh, Yong-Hwan, 2009. "Does unemployment increase suicide rates? The OECD panel evidence," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 575-582, August.
    18. Wu, Wen-Chieh & Cheng, Hui-Pei, 2010. "Symmetric mortality and asymmetric suicide cycles," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 1974-1981, June.
    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. Minoiu, Camelia & Andres, Antonio Rodriguez, 2008. "The effect of public spending on suicide: Evidence from U.S. state data," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 237-261, February.

    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:socmed:v:112:y:2014:i:c:p:39-50. 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: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    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.