The socio-economic determinants of suicide in selected MENA countries

Abstract

This paper aims to determine the impact of unemployment, Human development, income per capita, depressive disorders and inflation on suicide rates in some selected MENA countries through a panel data analysis from the years 2000 to 2019. The selected countries are Egypt, Lebanon, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. Several tests were conducted to reach accurate results that aid in determining our objective. The data was obtained from the World Bank, WHO reports, human development reports, and Ourworldindata. Furthermore, the study included panel least squares, fixed effects, fixed effects cross section SUR, random effects, and the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) co-integration approach, all of which were implemented using the E-Views program. After conducting the tests, our preferred model was fixed effect cross section with Seemingly Unrelated Regression weights (SUR). In the basic SUR model, the errors are assumed to be homoscedastic and linearly independent within each equation. The model demonstrates that unemployment, GDP per capita, inflation rate, and depressive disorders all have a significant positive relationship with suicide rates in the MENA countries we studied; that is, the higher these variables rise, the higher the suicide rates in Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria. On the other hand, the human development index had a significant negative association with suicide rates, implying that the higher the level of human development, the lower the suicide rate in our chosen countries. Therefore, the paper concludes that an increase in human development and a decrease in unemployment, inflation can lead to a significant decrease in suicide rates in the MENA countries. Accordingly, the paper recommends decreasing unemployment through maintaining political stability which would encourage more foreign entrepreneurs to open their businesses within the countries. This can also be reached by decentralization of industrial facilities. Depressive disorders can also be partially cured through raising awareness through media campaigns, regarding mental issues and the way a patient can get help which will also lead to more healthy and efficient contributors in the economy. Lastly, focusing on research and development and education will raise the human development index and provide more qualified and skilled labor which will furtherly lower suicide rates.