Examining Suicide Rates in Japan and South Korea: An Actuarial Analysis

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Penn collection
Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR)
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
suicide rates
mortality
life expectancy
multiple decrements
East Asia
Business
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Author
Oblander, Elliot
Contributor
Abstract

Japan and South Korea, despite having some of the longest life expectancies in the world, also have the highest suicide rates. This paper uses actuarial multiple decrement techniques to calculate the amount by which life expectancy in each country is impacted by suicide rates in these countries. This shows that suicides shorten life expectancy at birth by 1.05% in Japan and 0.83% in South Korea. The demographics most critically affected by suicide are Japanese males with a 1.50% reduction in life expectancy at birth, and the South Korean over-65 population with a 0.78% reduction in post-65 life expectancy—an alarmingly high percentage when considering overall heightened mortality rates at that age. These results suggest that high suicide rates, especially in Japan and South Korea, have massive implications for quality of life and economic productivity.

Advisor
Jean Lemaire
Date Range for Data Collection (Start Date)
Date Range for Data Collection (End Date)
Digital Object Identifier
Series name and number
Publication date
2015-01-01
Volume number
Issue number
Publisher
Publisher DOI
Journal Issue
Comments
Paper under review for publication - full paper download unavailable.
Recommended citation
Collection