| Keywords |
Park area ; Local suicide rate ; Fixed effect model ; Longitudinal effect |
| Abstract |
Do environmental factors explain the local suicide rate? Using the 226 local governments statistics for 7 years, obtained from Korean statistical Information Services, the study applies fixed-effect model, random-effect model, and pooled OLS to examine the effect of the community environmental factors on a local suicide rate. After verifying Hausman test and LM-test, this study employs fixed effect model. As empirical results, park area per person and cultural infrastructures significantly reduce the local suicide rate. Also, the high level of air pollution increases the community suicide rate. The results from the study sheds light on the environmental factors as a suicide predictor and suggest social policy implication for preventing local suicide rate. Expanding green areas and cultural faculties are recommended. |