Suicide Mortality and Agricultural Rationalization in Post-War Europe

This study investigated whether a general relationship could be found between structural change in agriculture & suicide in post-war Europe. Annual national-level data on suicide, the percentage of the workforce in agricultural employment, & the unemployment level were collected for those countries & 10-year periods where structural changes in agriculture between 1950-1995 had been most & least pronounced. The annual changes in levels of agricultural employment & those of suicide did not covary at all. Controlling for unemployment levels did not change this, nor could any lagged effects be found. (34 refs.) JA