Applying a bayesian hierarchical model in actuarial science: inference and ratemaking

Abstract

In a standard Bayesian model, a prior distribution is elicited for the structure parameter in order to obtain an estimate of this unknown parameter. The hierarchical model is a two way Bayesian one which incorporates a hyperprior distribution for some of the hyperparameters of the prior. In this way and under the Poisson-Gamma-Gamma model, a new distribution is obtained by computing the unconditional distribution of the random variable of interest. This distribution seems to provide a better fit to the data, given a policyholders' portfolio. Furthermore, Bayes premiums are thus obtained under a bonus-malus system and solve some of the problems of surcharges which appear in these systems when they are applied in a simple manner.