Economic Welfare, Civil Liberty, and Suicide: an Empirical Investigation

Performing an international cross-section study for 30 countries, this paper investigates the dependence of suicide rates on real income per capita, real income growth, & civil liberty. Economic variables are found to have a positive influence on suicide rates: the higher real per capita income &/or real economic growth, the higher the suicide rate is. But these results vary between age groups. These variations are discussed. With respect to civil liberty, the authors find the more liberty, the lower the suicide rates. (34 refs)