Breaking sad: drug-related homicides and mental well-being in Mexico

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Abstract

This paper examines the effect of drug-related homicide rates on mental well-being among adults in Mexico, amid a conflict known as the “Mexican Drug War,” during the period 2006–2012. The empirical strategy consists, on the one hand, of a multilevel analysis for mental well-being outcomes at the individual level and, on the other hand, of a difference-in-difference approach for aggregate mental well-being variables at the municipality level. Results suggest no effect of violence on clinical and non-clinical mental well-being for men and on clinical mental well-being for women. Yet, findings indicate a statistically significant effect between 3.5 and 4.9 percentage points of drug-related violence on non-clinical mental well-being of women in Mexico. These results are robust to a variety of specifications, falsification tests and data sources of drug-related homicide rates.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)513-531
Number of pages19
JournalInternational Review of Economics
Volume67
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2020

Keywords

  • Depression
  • Happiness
  • Mental health
  • Mexico
  • Organized crime
  • War

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