Suicide mortality, unemployment and the role of labour market policies

• Κύριος συγγραφέας: Χρυσικός, Γιώργος
• Άλλοι συγγραφείς: Chrysikos, Georgios
• Γλώσσα: English
• Έκδοση: 2021
• Θέματα: Suicide mortality; Unemployment; Passive labour market policies; Active labour market policies; Training programs; European Union; Αυτοκτονία; Ανεργία; Παθητικές πολιτικές για την αγορά εργασίας; Ενεργές πολιτικές για την αγορά εργασίας; Προγράμματα κατάρτισης; Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση

In this dissertation, we investigate the impact of unemployment on suicide mortality and identify how Labour Market Policies (LMPs) might reduce adverse effects. Using data for the European Union countries during 2000-2017, we create the suicide rate for the population aged 15 to 64 years and estimate fixed-effects regression models taking additional factors of suicidal behavior into account. Our results show that there is a positive relationship between unemployment and suicide mortality. Specifically, we delineate multiple manifest and latent pathways through which unemployment escalates the risk of suicide. We also find that expenditures on Passive Labour Market Policies (PLMPs) do not alter the effect of unemployment on suicide rates. However, spending on Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) above 0.4% of GDP substantially moderates the association between unemployment and suicide deaths. In particular, we find that Training programs are an effective type of ALMPs in buffering the influence of unemployment on suicide rates. These results also hold when we perform a robustness analysis using the suicide rate in the 15-84 years age group. Overall, our results imply that provisions of generous unemployment benefits through PLMPs render countries exposed to the harmful effects of unemployment, while workfare programs of ALMPs operate as safety nets from resorting to suicide.