Description: Most computations that are done within actuarial science entail using discrete death rates associated with incremental ages. It's not that continuous death rates cannot be used, it's just that discrete values tend to be more convenient to work with. Of the various continuous probability distributions, the one most closely associated with actuarial science may be the Gompertz distribution. This paper takes a closer look at the Gompertz, starting with the motivation behind Benjamin Gompertz proposing this particular distribution. Then the paper develops procedures to estimate the parameters for this distribution, and it ends with a brief example of the procedures presented in the paper.

Description: This paper explores available disability experience data in order to shed some light on the character and extent of the subjective influences which affect the frequency and duration of disability. A mathematical model for computing disability income premiums and reserves is also presented.

Description: The installment fractional premium scheme, although not practical for actual use, has some interesting theoretical properties. Jordan states, on page 88 of 'Life Contingencies', 'For example, if the insured dies after paying one quarterly premium for the current year, the three unpaid installments for the balance of the year are deducted from the policy proceeds.' This paper discusses the effects of adjusting the unpaid installments for interest.

Description: This paper examines four and-a-half years of prescription records for an elderly population who have relatively comprehensive out-of-hospital drug coverage under the Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly program in Pennsylvania. The result is a discussion of the determination of non-parametric estimations of the distributions. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1991, Vol 1.

Description: Automobile insurers classify the risks that they underwrite in order to subdivide the portfolio into classes of risks with similar profiles. While some insurers may have sufficient historical data, several others may not have significant volume of experience data in order to produce reliable claims predictions to help enhance their risk classification systems. A database containing a pooled experience of several insurers thereby helps to produce a more fair, reliable, and equitable premium structure for all risks concerned. This paper uses multilevel models to analyze the data on claim counts provided by the General Insurance Association of Singapore, an organization consisting of most of the general insurers in Singapore. The multilevel nature of the data is due to the following: a certain vehicle is observed over a period of years and is insured by a particular insurance company under a certain 'fleet' policy. The authors show how intercompany data lead to a priori premiums and a posteriori corrections to these initial premiums. Specific focus is made in understanding the intercompany effects using various count distribution models [Poisson, negative binomial, zero–inflated and hurdle Poisson]. The performance of these various models is compared the authors also investigate how to use the historical claims of a company, fleet and/or vehicle in order to correct for the premium initially set.

Description: This paper is concerned with the determination of credibility factors applicable to the estimation of the true claim level of a particular risk, based on both the actual observed claim experience of that risk and the expected claim level that would be predicted for the risk according to its exposure characteristics. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1969, Vol. 21, Pt. 1, No. 59 AB.

Description: The method described in this paper is to allocate surplus to each category of business and reserves in proportion to its estimated effect on an insurer's surplus variation. Risk load for each category of business is then selected so that the return on allocated surplus for each category is equal to the overall return on surplus. From Actuarial Research Clearing House 1993, VOL. 3.

Description: A presentation of a mathematics/statistics based approach for determining credibility factors for possible use in group health insurance premium rate setting and experience refund setting. Includes supporting mathematical proofs of approach. Followed by discussions submitted by several people

Description: A simplified model adapts very easily to simulation by a computer, and this is what the author has done with several selected pairs of probability distributions in order to calculate the probability of a casualty company's being ruined shortly after its establishment. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1969, Vol. 21, Pt. 1, No. 61.

Description: The dependent relationship between two lives is readily analyzed within the context of probability theory. This paper presents useful relationships between certain actuarial and probability functions and then explores measures of dependence. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1986, Vol. 38.