IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/ccexxx/v08y2017i01ns2010007817500038.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Climate, Crime, And Suicide: Empirical Evidence From Japan

Author

Listed:
  • RYO TAKAHASHI

    (Waseda University, 1-6-1 Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku-Ku, Tokyo 169-0051, Japan)

Abstract

The relationship between climate change and violent behavior has been well documented in previous studies. Violence has two dimensions: outward violence (i.e., crime) and inward violence (i.e., suicide). To our knowledge, rigorous empirical studies have not been performed to investigate how climate change affects both criminal and suicidal behavior. This study aims to estimate the effects of climate change on crime and suicide in Japan by using prefecture-level monthly panel data on climate, crime, and suicide between 2009 and 2015. Even after controlling for prefecture, yearly, and monthly effects, we found that many climate factors affected both crime and suicide in Japan. In particular, more aggressive behavior and an increased number of suicides were observed when the average temperature increased. Furthermore, we predicted how changes in the climate of Japan will affect future patterns of criminal and suicidal behavior based on two climate change scenarios.

Suggested Citation

  • Ryo Takahashi, 2017. "Climate, Crime, And Suicide: Empirical Evidence From Japan," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 8(01), pages 1-14, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:ccexxx:v:08:y:2017:i:01:n:s2010007817500038
    DOI: 10.1142/S2010007817500038
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S2010007817500038
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S2010007817500038?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. Brian Jacob & Lars Lefgren & Enrico Moretti, 2007. "The Dynamics of Criminal Behavior: Evidence from Weather Shocks," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(3).
    2. Halicioglu, Ferda & Andrés, Antonio R. & Yamamura, Eiji, 2012. "Modeling crime in Japan," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 1640-1645.
    3. Takahashi, Ryo & Todo, Yasuyuki, 2011. "Impact of Community Management on Forest Protection:Evidence from an Aid-Funded Project in Ethiopia," Working Papers 31, JICA Research Institute.
    4. Joeri Rogelj & David L. McCollum & Andy Reisinger & Malte Meinshausen & Keywan Riahi, 2013. "Probabilistic cost estimates for climate change mitigation," Nature, Nature, vol. 493(7430), pages 79-83, January.
    5. Kirchner, Mathias & Schönhart, Martin & Schmid, Erwin, 2016. "Spatial impacts of the CAP post-2013 and climate change scenarios on agricultural intensification and environment in Austria," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 35-56.
    6. Matsubayashi, Tetsuya & Sawada, Yasuyuki & Ueda, Michiko, 2013. "Natural disasters and suicide: Evidence from Japan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 126-133.
    7. Zhang, Jie & Wieczorek, William F. & Conwell, Yeates & Tu, Xin Ming, 2011. "Psychological strains and youth suicide in rural China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(12), pages 2003-2010, June.
    8. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    9. Chen, Joe & Choi, Yun Jeong & Sawada, Yasuyuki, 2009. "How is suicide different in Japan?," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 140-150, March.
    10. Ranson, Matthew, 2014. "Crime, weather, and climate change," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 274-302.
    11. 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.
    12. Takahashi, Ryo & Todo, Yasuyuki, 2013. "Impact of a Shade Coffee Certification Program on Forest Conservation:A Case Study from a Wild Coffee Forest in Ethiopia," Working Papers 55, JICA Research Institute.
    13. Takahashi, Ryo & Todo, Yasuyuki, 2017. "Coffee Certification and Forest Quality: Evidence from a Wild Coffee Forest in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 158-166.
    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. Ankel-Peters, Jörg & Bruederle, Anna & Roberts, Gareth, 2022. "Weather and Crime—Cautious evidence from South Africa," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 3(1), pages 1-22.
    2. Kahori Ishibashi & Ryo Takahashi, 2024. "Too“hot”to recognize her rights: The impact of climate change on attitude toward gender equality," Working Papers 2310, Waseda University, Faculty of Political Science and Economics.
    3. Takahashi, Ryo & Todo, Yasuyuki & Funaki, Yukihiko, 2018. "How Can We Motivate Consumers to Purchase Certified Forest Coffee? Evidence From a Laboratory Randomized Experiment Using Eye-trackers," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 107-121.
    4. Mišák, Vojtěch, 2024. "Does heat cause homicides? A meta-analysis," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. Kaori Tembata & Kenji Takeuchi, 2018. "The Impact Of Climate Variability On Drought Management: Evidence From Japanese River Basins," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(04), pages 1-20, November.

    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. Takahashi, Ryo & Todo, Yasuyuki & Funaki, Yukihiko, 2018. "How Can We Motivate Consumers to Purchase Certified Forest Coffee? Evidence From a Laboratory Randomized Experiment Using Eye-trackers," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 107-121.
    2. Takahashi, Ryo & Otsuka, Keijiro & Tilahun, Mesfin & Birhane, Emiru & Holden, Stein, 2024. "Beyond Ostrom: Randomized experiment of the impact of individualized tree rights on forest management in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    3. Takahashi, Ryo, 2021. "How to stimulate environmentally friendly consumption: Evidence from a nationwide social experiment in Japan to promote eco-friendly coffee," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    4. Takahashi, R. & Todo, Y., 2018. "When do consumers stand up for the environment? Evidence from a large-scale social experiment to promote environmentally friendly coffee," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277507, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Melissa Dell & Benjamin F. Jones & Benjamin A. Olken, 2014. "What Do We Learn from the Weather? The New Climate-Economy Literature," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(3), pages 740-798, September.
    6. Ceren Baysan & Marshall Burke & Felipe González & Solomon Hsiang & Edward Miguel, 2018. "Economic and Non-Economic Factors in Violence: Evidence from Organized Crime, Suicides and Climate in Mexico," NBER Working Papers 24897, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Heilmann, Kilian & Kahn, Matthew E. & Tang, Cheng Keat, 2021. "The urban crime and heat gradient in high and low poverty areas," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    8. Sung Jae Jun & Joris Pinkse & Haiqing Xu & Neşe Yıldız, 2016. "Multiple Discrete Endogenous Variables in Weakly-Separable Triangular Models," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, February.
    9. Ankel-Peters, Jörg & Bruederle, Anna & Roberts, Gareth, 2022. "Weather and Crime—Cautious evidence from South Africa," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 3(1), pages 1-22.
    10. Johanna Gather & Meike Wollni, 2022. "Setting the standard: Does Rainforest Alliance Certification increase environmental and socio‐economic outcomes for small‐scale coffee producers in Rwanda?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(4), pages 1807-1825, December.
    11. Bertinelli, Luisito & Mahé, Clotilde & Strobl, Eric, 2023. "Earthquakes and mental health," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    12. Le, Kien & Nguyen, My, 2020. "The Impacts of Temperature Shocks on Birth Weight in Vietnam," MPRA Paper 110325, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Nekeisha Spencer & Eric Strobl, 2019. "Crime Watch: Hurricanes and Illegal Activities," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(1), pages 318-338, July.
    14. Ruifeng Liu & Zhifeng Gao & Rodolfo M. Nayga & Lijia Shi & Les Oxley & Hengyun Ma, 2020. "Can “green food” certification achieve both sustainable practices and economic benefits in a transitional economy? The case of kiwifruit growers in Henan Province, China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(4), pages 675-692, October.
    15. Singh, Tejendra Pratap & Visaria, Sujata, 2021. "Up in the Air: Air Pollution and Crime – Evidence from India," SocArXiv hs4xj, Center for Open Science.
    16. Evan Lau & Siti Nur Zahara Hamzah & Sandra Chia Chia Tan & Biagio Simonetti, 2017. "Suicide and socioeconomic determinants in Canada: beyond morality and philosophy," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1843-1858, July.
    17. Ishak, Phoebe W., 2022. "Murder nature: Weather and violent crime in rural Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    18. Annan-Phan, Sébastien & Ba, Bocar A., 2024. "JUE Insight: Hot temperatures, aggression, and death at the hands of the police: Evidence from the U.S," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    19. Qianwen Duan & Minghong Tan, 2019. "Spatial and Temporal Variations of Forest Cover in Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-15, March.
    20. Takahashi, Ryo & Todo, Yasuyuki, 2015. "Coffee certification and forest quality: A case in Ethiopia," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211939, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

    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:wsi:ccexxx:v:08:y:2017:i:01:n:s2010007817500038. 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: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.worldscinet.com/cce/cce.shtml .

    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.