Tetsuya Matsubayashi

The effect of national suicide prevention programs on suicide rates in 21 OECD nations

Suicide has become a serious and growing public health problem in many countries. To address the problem of suicide, some countries have developed comprehensive suicide prevention programs as a collective political effort. However, no prior research has offered a systematic test of their effectiveness using cross-national data. This paper evaluates whether the national suicide prevention programs in twenty-one OECD nations had the anticipated effect of reducing suicide rates. By analyzing data between 1980 and 2004 with a fixed-effect estimator, we test whether there is a statistically meaningful difference in the suicide rates before and after the implementation of national suicide prevention programs. Our panel data analysis shows that the overall suicide rates decreased after nationwide suicide prevention programs were introduced. These government-led suicide prevention programs are most effective in preventing suicides among the elderly and young populations. By contrast, the suicide rates of working-age groups, regardless of gender, do not seem to respond to the introduction of national prevention programs. Our findings suggest that the presence of a national strategy can be effective in reducing suicide rates.

Civic Engagement and Mass–Elite Policy Agenda Agreement in American Communities

We test propositions about how different forms of civic engagement are related to democratic representation in American communities. Our data are for the samples of communities, their citizens, and their leaders originally examined by Verba and Nie in Participation in America (1972). Our analyses of those data indicate that membership in bridging social–capital civic associations is unrelated to democratic responsiveness of leaders to the mass public but that bonding social–capital membership is negatively associated with such responsiveness. We also demonstrate that bonding social–capital civic engagement weakens the democratic linkage processes inherent in elections.

Natural disasters and suicide: Evidence from Japan

Previous research shows no consensus as to whether and how natural disasters affect suicide rates in their aftermath. Using prefecture-level panel data of natural disasters and suicide in Japan between 1982 and 2010, we estimate both contemporaneous and lagged effects of natural disasters on the suicide rates of various demographic groups. We find that when the damage caused by natural disasters is extremely large, as in the case of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995, suicide rates tend to increase in the immediate aftermath of the disaster and several years later. However, when the damage by natural disasters is less severe, suicide rates tend to decrease after the disasters, especially one or two years later. Thus, natural disasters affect the suicide rates of affected populations in a complicated way, depending on the severity of damages as well as on how many years have passed since the disaster. We also find that the effects of natural disasters on suicide rates vary considerably across demographic groups, which suggests that some population subgroups are more vulnerable to the impact of natural disasters than others. We then test the possibility that natural disasters enhance peoples willingness to help others in society, an effect that may work as a protective factor against disaster victims suicidal risks. We find that natural disasters increase the level of social ties in affected communities, which may mitigate some of the adverse consequence of natural disasters, resulting in a decline in suicide rates. Our findings also indicate that when natural disasters are highly destructive and disruptive, such protective features of social connectedness are unlikely to be enough to compensate for the severe negative impact of disasters on health outcomes.

Does the installation of blue lights on train platforms prevent suicide? A before-and-after observational study from Japan

BACKGROUNDnRailway and metro suicides constitute a major problem in many parts of the world. Japan has experienced an increase in the number of suicides by persons diving in front of an oncoming train in the last several years. Some major railway operators in Japan have begun installing blue light-emitting-diode (LED) lamps on railway platforms and at railway crossings as a method of deterring suicides, which is less costly than installing platform screen doors. However, the effectiveness of the blue lights in this regard has not yet been proven.nnnMETHODSnThis study evaluates the effect of blue lights on the number of suicides at 71 train stations by using panel data between 2000 and 2010 from a railway company in a metropolitan area of Japan. We use a regression model and compare the number of suicides before and after and with and without the intervention by the blue light. We used the number of suicides at 11 stations with the intervention as the treatment group and at the other 60 stations without the intervention as the control group.nnnRESULTSnOur regression analysis shows that the introduction of blue lights resulted in a 84% decrease in the number of suicides (CI: 14-97%).nnnLIMITATIONnThe analysis relies on data from a single railroad company and it does not examine the underlying suicide-mitigation mechanism of blue lights.nnnCONCLUSIONnAs blue lights are easier and less expensive to install than platform screen doors, they can be a cost-effective method for suicide prevention.

The Implications of Class, Race, and Ethnicity for Political Networks

Previous research demonstrates the importance of citizens’ communication networks as an influence on their political behavior. Yet most findings are limited to samples of Whites or the interaction of Whites with their discussants. This article extends our attention to the social networks of Blacks, Latinos, Asians, and noncitizens, and explores how communication processes differ across them. Using data from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality, we first compare various characteristics of social networks across racial and ethnic groups. Second, we test whether the network-based advantages of Whites, compared with other groups, result from differences in individual socioeconomic status or from group-based social resources. Third, we investigate whether interracial interaction affects race-related attitudes. In conclusion, we urge scholars who study social networks to recognize the important consequences of racial diversity for more fully understanding the political behavior of all Americans, whether Anglo, Black, Latino, or Asian.

Racial Diversity and Public Policy in the States

How does racial diversity affect public policy outcomes in the states? The policy backlash hypothesis suggests that the presence of blacks increases antagonistic attitudes toward minorities among whites and thus produces racially conservative policies. The electoral constraint hypothesis argues that the presence of blacks increases the size of population that supports policy liberalism and thus results in more liberal policies. The authors reconcile these competing explanations by arguing that the hypothesized negative impact of minority group size on policy liberalism varies across states in accordance with socioeconomic and institutional conditions that strengthen or weaken the impacts of electoral constraint or backlash.

Political knowledge and the use of candidate race as a voting cue

Do White voters use candidate race as a voting cue in biracial electoral contests? We argue that the answer to this question depends on the level of political knowledge and information that voters have rather than on their attitudes toward minorities. Our analyses of precinct- and individual-level data show that White voters who are likely to be informed about candidates vote less often for the Democratic party when the candidate is Black, whereas vote choices of White voters who are unlikely to be informed about candidates are unaffected by candidate race.

Latino Immigration and Representation in Local Politics

Theories of racial politics argue that areas with large minority population are characterized by greater levels of policy equity, yet empirical research often fails to find evidence for this prediction. In this article, we develop and test an alternative view of the relationship between minority group size and the representation of minority interests in government using the case of Latino representation in local politics. We argue that Latino group size results in both favorable and unfavorable policy outcomes for Latino communities. The nature of the Latino population, specifically the extent to which it is composed primarily of citizens or noncitizens, explains when each outcome will occur. Latinos achieve more favorable policy outcomes for their interests when the size of the Latino citizen population increases but less favorable outcomes when the number of Latino noncitizens increases. The negative effect of noncitizen group size is mediated by the presence of Latino citizens and representatives. Our hypotheses are tested using data from a national sample of several hundred local school districts and educational policy outcomes.

The determinants and political consequences of Latinos' perceived intra-group competition

Tensions between Latinos may undermine support for collective group interests. In this paper, we, first, examine the determinants of Latinos perceived intra-group competition. We expected perceived intra-group competition to be shaped by Latinos (1) personal economic status, (2) acculturation, (3) experiences with discrimination from co-ethnic members, (4) pan-ethnic identity, and (5) neighborhood conditions. Second, we explore how perceived competition influences their attitudes on policies that address shared group concerns. Using the 2006 Latino National Survey, our analysis shows that Latinos who experienced discrimination from co-ethnic members felt greater intra-group competition. Second, perceived competition is highest for Latinos who live in neighborhoods with large proportions of residents from their country of origin. Finally, Latinos who felt intra-group competition held more negative attitudes toward immigrants than those that perceived little competition.

Distributive Politics and Voter Turnout

Do distributive policies affect voter turnout? Drawing upon previous research on distributive politics and policy feedback, we hypothesize that more distributive federal grants increase the rate of voting. Our analysis using district-level data from 1993 to 2000 reveals that the larger amount and number of distributive federal grants allocated to congressional districts are associated with the higher percentages of voter turnout in the subsequent congressional elections. We address estimation problems that result from the reciprocal relationship between federal spending and voter turnout and of omitted variable bias by using an instrumental variable. Our findings imply that distributive policies advantage incumbent legislators partly because they are effective for mobilizing potential supporters.