AbstractThis paper investigates the empirical relationship between stock market volatility and suicide mortality across OECD countries over the period 1990–2023. Drawing upon Durkheim’s theory of anomic suicide and the behavioral finance literature on loss aversion, we construct a panel dataset integrating national stock index returns, realized volatility measures, and age-standardized suicide rates disaggregated by sex and age group. Using fixed-effects regression models with instrumental variable estimation and Granger causality tests, our findings reveal that periods of elevated market volatility and sharp equity price declines are associated with statistically significant increases in suicide rates, with effects concentrated among working-age males aged 35–64. The magnitude of the effect intensifies during systemic financial crises, with the 2008 Global Financial Crisis producing an estimated 8.2% excess suicide rate among males in severely affected economies. We further document a lagged transmission mechanism whereby financial distress translates into suicide mortality with a delay of 6–18 months, mediated through unemployment, household debt distress, and psychological morbidity. These findings carry important implications for public health surveillance during periods of financial market turbulence and underscore the need for integrated policy responses that link financial regulatory frameworks with mental health crisis intervention systems.
Balcıoğlu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.