The Cost of Loss: An economic look at suicide and policy prevention
Hagan, Kayleb (2023)
2023
Yhteiskuntatutkimuksen maisteriohjelma - Master's Programme in Social Sciences
Yhteiskuntatieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2023-06-01
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202306136733
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202306136733
Tiivistelmä
What is the value of life? We have all heard of life insurance policies or the payouts for wrongful death suits, which might give you an inclination on the value. These values go much deeper than that and include many economic formulas and models to determine. In the world, there is a type of death that occurs every 40 seconds. It is not unique to any culture and can affect anyone at any time (WHO, 2019). Suicide is among the top ten leading causes of death in all age brackets. Given the significant societal challenges, asserting that economic consequences exist is reasonable. In this study, economic models, spatial analysis, and regression will be used to create an understanding of these economic consequences and ways to alleviate them within the U.S.
The economic model revealed a social loss formula for the economic costs due to suicide, given a social policy’s implementation. Adding social policy to the formula is unique as it shows the effects policies can have on mitigating economic loss. A matrix was used to determine the infinite social policies that could be utilized within the model. The model shows that given different policies, it will react based on the targeted variable leading to an increase or decrease in the different cost expressions. Spatially, certain areas of the U.S. were found to have significant clustering of high and low suicide rates indicating a spatial pattern. Additionally, the regression results show the positive influence of specific policies on suicide outcomes, such as LGBTQ policies and suicide prevention policies aimed at students. The study shows insights into the effectiveness of policies on preventing suicide, the areas where policies are necessary, and the economic costs associated.
The economic model revealed a social loss formula for the economic costs due to suicide, given a social policy’s implementation. Adding social policy to the formula is unique as it shows the effects policies can have on mitigating economic loss. A matrix was used to determine the infinite social policies that could be utilized within the model. The model shows that given different policies, it will react based on the targeted variable leading to an increase or decrease in the different cost expressions. Spatially, certain areas of the U.S. were found to have significant clustering of high and low suicide rates indicating a spatial pattern. Additionally, the regression results show the positive influence of specific policies on suicide outcomes, such as LGBTQ policies and suicide prevention policies aimed at students. The study shows insights into the effectiveness of policies on preventing suicide, the areas where policies are necessary, and the economic costs associated.