Citation

Daly MC, Wilson DJ, Johnson NJ. Rev. Econ. Stat. 2013; 95(5): 1480-1500.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Department of Economics, Harvard University, Publisher MIT Press)

DOI

10.1162/REST_a_00355

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

We assess the importance of interpersonal income comparisons using data on suicide deaths. We examine whether suicide risk is related to others' income, holding own income and other individual and environmental factors fixed. We estimate models of the suicide hazard using two independent data sets: the National Longitudinal Mortality Study and the National Center for Health Statistics' Multiple Cause of Death Files combined with the 5% Public Use Micro Sample of the 1990 decennial census.

RESULTS from both data sources show that, controlling for own income and individual characteristics, individual suicide risk rises with others' income. © 2013 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Language: en