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The Impact of Socioeconomic Factors on State Suicide Rates: A Methodological Note

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  • Mitch Kunce

    (Department of Economics and Finance, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071-3985, USA. mkunce@uwyo.edu)

  • April L. Anderson

    (Department of Psychology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071-3415, USA. Fax: 307 766 5090. aprila@uwyo.edu)

Abstract

This note examines the purported impact of conventional socioeconomic and social environment factors on annual, state-level suicide rates. Results from an inductive fixed-effects (covariance) analysis, of state-level time-series/cross-section data for the period 1985-95, do little to support Durkheim's social causes hypothesis that aggregate socioeconomic factors matter in explaining state suicide rates. A possible source of heterogeneity-aggregation bias is identified raising questions surrounding past inferences made in aggregate suicide research. The data and empirical method support a mounting sentiment of an abiding ecological fallacy in the suicide literature. Implications of this investigation call for a shift in research focus and method to a smaller unit of analysis (for example, individual-level, controlling for key social processes).

Suggested Citation

  • Mitch Kunce & April L. Anderson, 2002. "The Impact of Socioeconomic Factors on State Suicide Rates: A Methodological Note," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(1), pages 155-162, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:39:y:2002:i:1:p:155-162
    DOI: 10.1080/00420980220099131
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
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    1. 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.
    2. Antonakakis, Nikolaos & Collins, Alan, 2018. "A suicidal Kuznets curve?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 90-93.
    3. 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.
    4. Hempstead, Katherine, 2006. "The geography of self-injury: Spatial patterns in attempted and completed suicide," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(12), pages 3186-3196, June.
    5. Eiji Yamamura, 2010. "The different impacts of socio-economic factors on suicide between males and females," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(10), pages 1009-1012.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.

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