Under Pressure: High-Stakes Exams and Media-Reported Student Suicides in India

Subarna Banerjee and Gitanjali Sen

No 1781, GLO Discussion Paper Series from Global Labor Organization (GLO)

Abstract: We estimate the association between high-stakes exams and student suicides in India using geocoded, high-frequency media data. Student suicides rise by 17.5 percent during NEET-UG or JEE-Mains exam months, with no comparable pattern around lower-stakes board exams or among adults. Stronger associations are seen among girls. Associations being higher in high-participation states, urbanised districts, and in months when high-stakes and board exams coincide suggest that peer pressure and economic incentives in highly competitive environments may worsen mental health. Using cyclone and election months as potential drivers of media attention, we rule out media bias driving our results. Event-study estimates show suicides concentrating in months before and during exams, with a weaker association around result announcements. While falsification exercises strengthen our findings, Oster Bounds analysis addresses potential omitted variable bias. Lacking granular mental health data, we generate an alternative database to address a key policy question that can spur future research.

Keywords: Mental Health; Suicides; Education; High-stakes exams; Media; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 I12 I18 I24 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/341722/1/GLO-DP-1781.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:glodps:1781

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in GLO Discussion Paper Series from Global Labor Organization (GLO) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics ().