Suicide and the South African Business Cycle

Abstract

Using monthly data for January 2006 - December 2015, this study explores the relationship between suicide and the South African business cycle. Contrary to most previous research, the findings reveal that suicide is pro-cyclical.

Notes

1 The unit root-, bounds- and diagnostic tests are not reported here but are available upon request.

2 For white individuals, the error correction term was -1.881 and significantly different from -1 (t = -3.45, p = 0.008). As no other specification rendered an acceptable diagnostic result, the model was not considered further and hence the full results are not reported.