Notes on the determinants of suicide rates in Italy's regions: a reply to Voracek (2009)

This article is a review of Voracek's report (2009) of aggregate intelligence and suicide rates in Italy's regions, contending some findings and proposing new evidence and suggestions for further research. Voracek did not use intelligence data, but educational attainment, which in Italy's regions is affected by sharp imbalances in the quality of public schools and may not reflect differences in intelligence. The statistical analyses were inadequate given the small number of cases; the resulting correlation could be meaningless or even misleading. The paper shows that when the analysis is extended to other variables (latitude) or historical periods (1911) the correlations reported by Voracek are not significant. This criticism is based on perspectives among different branches of psychology and cognitive sciences, economic and social history, and economic geography.