Deriving relative risks from aggregate data. 2. An application to the relationship between unemployment and suicide.

In Part 1 of this study, the mathematical relations between micro and macro measures of effect were derived. The formulas thus obtained can be used for cross level comparisons of findings concerning the effect of some specific risk factor on, eg, mortality. The approach is illustrated by means of an empirical example relating to the association between unemployment and suicide. This relationship is estimated on micro data as well as on aggregate time series data. The findings from the two levels are fairly consistent.