Government spending, recession, and suicide: evidence from Japan
Government spending, recession, and suicide: evidence from Japan
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DOI：
10.1186/s12889-020-8264-1
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发表时间：
2020-02-21
影响因子：
4.5
通讯作者：
Ueda, Michiko
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Matsubayashi, Tetsuya;Sekijima, Kozue;Ueda, Michiko
紧缩政策已被证明对人们的心理健康和自杀率产生不利影响。大多数现有的研究都集中在政府对单一事件的反应上，例如2008年的大衰退。方法本研究关注2001年至2014年日本财政政策的重大变化。在新自由主义改革的2001年至2006年期间，国家和地方政府的支出规模急剧减少，但在全球经济危机和东日本大地震之后又有所增加。我们使用2001年至2014年47个都道府县的数据，测试了地方政府的更多支出是否与辖区内较低的自杀率有关。我们还调查了这种关系在更严重的经济衰退期间是否特别突出。结果我们的分析显示，人均地方政府支出增加1%，40至64岁男性和女性的自杀率下降0.2%，并且随着失业率的增加，这种相关性得到加强，尤其是男性。结论政府对经济危机的反应可以加剧或减轻经济衰退对人们心理健康和自杀率的负面影响。
Backgrounds Austerity has been shown to have an adverse influence on people's mental health and suicide rates. Most existing studies have focused on the governments' reactions to a single event, for example, the Great Recession of 2008. Methods This study focused on significant changes in fiscal policy between 2001 and 2014 in Japan. The size of expenditures by national and local governments decreased dramatically between 2001 and 2006 under the neoliberal reform and then increased after the global economic crisis and the Great East Japan Earthquake. Using the data from 47 prefectures between 2001 and 2014, we tested whether more spending by the local governments was associated with a lower suicide rate in their jurisdiction. We also investigated whether this relationship was particularly salient during a more severe recession. Results Our analysis revealed that an increase of 1% in the per capita local government expenditures was associated with a decrease of 0.2% in the suicide rates among males and females aged between 40 and 64 and that this correlation was strengthened as the unemployment rate increased, particularly among males. Conclusions Government's reaction to economic crises can either exacerbate or mitigate the negative impact of the economic recession on people's mental health and suicide rates.