This book examines the causes and consequences of suicide from the perspective of economics. The approach here differs from those in medical, psychiatric, epidemiological, and sociological studies of suicide and is thus novel in a way that highlights the importance of economic and institutional settings in the problem of suicide. The authors argue that suicide imposes a tremendous economic cost on contemporary society in a variety of ways, requiring the government to develop an effective prevention strategy. An empirical analysis using data from Japan and other developed countries shows that...