arXiv subjects

Corina Constantinescu

Publications and source records attributed to Corina Constantinescu.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Optimal Cash Transfers and Microinsurance to Reduce Social Protection Costs

Design and implementation of appropriate social protection strategies is one of the main targets of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1: No Poverty. Cash transfer (CT) programmes are considered one of the main social protection strategies and an instrument for achieving SDG 1. Targeting consists of establishing eligibility criteria for beneficiaries of CT programmes. In low-income countries, where resources are limited, proper targeting of CTs is essential for an efficient use of resources. Given the growing importance of microinsurance as a complementary tool to social protection strategies, this study examines its role as a supplement to CT programmes. In this article, we adopt the piecewise-deterministic Markov process introduced in Kovacevic and Pflug (2011) to model the capital of a household, which when exposed to proportional capital losses (in contrast to the classical Cram\'er-Lundberg model) can push them into the poverty area. Striving for cost-effective CT programmes, we optimise the expected discounted cost of keeping the household's capital above the poverty line by means of injection of capital (as a direct capital transfer). Using dynamic programming techniques, we derive the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation associated with the optimal control problem of determining the amount of capital to inject over time. We show that this equation admits a viscosity solution that can be approximated numerically. Moreover, in certain special cases, we obtain closed-form expressions for the solution. Numerical examples show that there is an optimal level of injection above the poverty threshold, suggesting that efficient use of resources is achieved when CTs are preventive rather than reactive, since injecting capital into households when their capital levels are above the poverty line is less costly than to do so only when it falls below the threshold.

q-fin.RM↗

arXiv2024

Extreme Limit Theory of Competing Risks under Power Normalization

Advanced science and technology provide a wealth of big data from different sources for extreme value analysis. Classical extreme value theory was extended to obtain an accelerated max-stable distribution family for modelling competing risk-based extreme data in Cao and Zhang (2021). In this paper, we establish probability models for power normalized maxima and minima from competing risks. The limit distributions consist of an extensional new accelerated max-stable and min-stable distribution family (termed as the accelerated p-max/p-min stable distribution), and its left-truncated version. The consistency and asymptotic normality are obtained for the maximum likelihood estimation of the parameters involved in the accelerated p-max and p-min stable distributions when it exists. The limit types of distributions are determined principally by the sample generating process and the interplay among the competing risks, which are illustrated by common examples. Further, the statistical inference concerning the maximum likelihood estimation and model diagnosis of this model was investigated. Numerical studies show first the efficient approximation of all limit scenarios as well as its comparable convergence rate in contrast with those under linear normalization, and then present the maximum likelihood estimation and diagnosis of accelerated p-max/p-min stable models for simulated data sets. Finally, two real datasets concerning annual maximum of ground level ozone and survival times of Stanford heart plant demonstrate the performance of our accelerated p-max and accelerated p-min stable models.

math.ST↗

arXiv2024

Subsidising Inclusive Insurance to Reduce Poverty

In this article, we assess the benefits of coordination and partnerships between governments and private insurers, and provide further evidence for microinsurance products as powerful and cost-effective tools for achieving poverty reduction. To explore these ideas, we model the capital of a household from a ruin-theoretic perspective to measure the impact of microinsurance on poverty dynamics and the governmental cost of social protection. We analyse the model under four frameworks: uninsured, insured (without subsidies), insured with subsidised constant premiums and insured with subsidised flexible premiums. Although insurance alone (without subsidies) may not be sufficient to reduce the likelihood of falling into the area of poverty for specific groups of households, since premium payments constrain their capital growth, our analysis suggests that subsidised schemes can provide maximum social benefits while reducing governmental costs.

stat.AP↗

arXiv2023

On the Impact of Insurance on Households Susceptible to Random Proportional Losses: An Analysis of Poverty Trapping

The trapping probability, $\psi$, as defined in Kovacevic and Pflug (2011), is modelled by assuming proportional capital losses, both in the case where there is no insurance and in the case where insurance is purchased by the household. Insurance coverage is likewise proportional, mirroring the structure of quota-share contracts, which are both prevalent in practice and analytically convenient. New closed formulae for $\psi$ are obtained in the case of no insurance when the distribution of the remaining proportion of capital is a power law, extending the results in Kovacevic and Pflug (2011). When proportional insurance is acquired and the remaining proportion of capital is uniformly distributed on $[0,1]$, $\psi$ satisfies a non-local differential equation whose analysis is based on the properties of diffusion processes. The non-local nature of the equation can be addressed using iterative solution methods, leading to a constructive determination of the trapping probability. Constraints on the parameters governing the capital process are derived in both the uninsured and insured cases to prevent the certainty of trapping. Numerical calculations are used to determine the trapping probability for the insured process and to illustrate the impact of different parameters. Consequences on the trapping probability for vulnerable non-poor populations with initial capital slightly above the poverty line are discussed.

q-fin.RM↗

arXiv2023

Asymptototic Expected Utility of Dividend Payments in a Classical Collective Risk Process

We find the asymptotics of the value function maximizing the expected utility of discounted dividend payments of an insurance company whose reserves are modeled as a classical Cramér risk process, with exponentially distributed claims, when the initial reserves tend to infinity. We focus on the power and logarithmic utility functions. We perform some numerical analysis as well.

math.OC↗

arXiv2021

How much we gain by surplus-dependent premiums -- asymptotic analysis of ruin probability

In this paper, we build on the techniques developed in Albrecher et al. (2013), to generate initial-boundary value problems for ruin probabilities of surplus-dependent premium risk processes, under a renewal case scenario, Erlang (2) claim arrivals, and an exponential claims scenario, Erlang (2) claim sizes. Applying the approximation theory of solutions of linear ordinary differential equations developed in Fedoryuk (1993), we derive the asymptotics of the ruin probabilities when the initial reserve tends to infinity. When considering premiums that are {\it linearly} dependent on reserves, representing for instance returns on risk-free investments of the insurance capital, we firstly derive explicit formulas for the ruin probabilities, from which we can easily determine their asymptotics, only to match the ones obtained for general premiums dependent on reserves. We compare them with the asymptotics of the equivalent ruin probabilities when the premium rate is fixed over time, to measure the gain generated by this additional mechanism of binding the premium rates with the amount of reserve own by the insurance company.

math.PR↗

arXiv2020

Pricing foreseeable and unforeseeable risks in insurance portfolios

In this manuscript we propose a method for pricing insurance products that cover not only traditional risks, but also unforeseen ones. By considering the Poisson process parameter to be a mixed random variable, we capture the heterogeneity of foreseeable and unforeseeable risks. To illustrate, we estimate the weights for the two risk streams for a real dataset from a Portuguese insurer. To calculate the premium, we set the frequency and severity as distributions that belong to the linear exponential family. Under a Bayesian setup , we show that when working with a finite mixture of conjugate priors, the premium can be estimated by a mixture of posterior means, with updated parameters, depending on claim histories. We emphasise the riskiness of the unforeseeable trend, by choosing heavy-tailed distributions. After estimating distribution parameters involved using the Expectation-Maximization algorithm, we found that Bayesian premiums derived are more reactive to claim trends than traditional ones.

q-fin.GN↗

arXiv2019

A ruin model with a resampled environment

This paper considers a Cramér-Lundberg risk setting, where the components of the underlying model change over time. These components could be thought of as the claim arrival rate, the claim-size distribution, and the premium rate, but we allow the more general setting of the cumulative claim process being modelled as a spectrally positive Lévy process. We provide an intuitively appealing mechanism to create such parameter uncertainty: at Poisson epochs we resample the model components from a finite number of $d$ settings. It results in a setup that is particularly suited to describe situations in which the risk reserve dynamics are affected by external processes (such as the state of the economy, political developments, weather or climate conditions, and policy regulations). We extend the classical Cramér-Lundberg approximation (asymptotically characterizing the all-time ruin probability in a light-tailed setting) to this more general setup. In addition, for the situation that the driving Lévy processes are sums of Brownian motions and compound Poisson processes, we find an explicit uniform bound on the ruin probability, which can be viewed as an extension of Lundberg's inequality; importantly, here it is not required that the Lévy processes be spectrally one-sided. In passing we propose an importance-sampling algorithm facilitating efficient estimation, and prove it has bounded relative error. In a series of numerical experiments we assess the accuracy of the asymptotics and bounds, and illustrate that neglecting the resampling can lead to substantial underestimation of the risk.

math.PR↗

arXiv2019

Estimation of foreseeable and unforeseeable risks in motor insurance

This project works with the risk model developed by Li et al. (2015) and quests modelling, estimating and pricing insurance for risks brought in by innovative technologies, or other emerging or latent risks. The model considers two different risk streams that arise together, however not clearly separated or observed. Specifically, we consider a risk surplus process where premia are adjusted according to past claim frequencies, like in a Bonus-Malus (BM) system, when we consider a classical or historical risk stream and an unforeseeable risk one. These are unknown risks which can be of high uncertainty that, when pricing insurance (ratemaking and experience rating), suggest a sensitive premium adjustment strategy. It is not clear for the actuary to observe which claim comes from one or the other stream. When modelling such risks it is crucial to estimate the behaviour of such claims, occurrence and their severity. Premium calculation must fairly reflect the nature of these two kinds of risk streams. We start proposing a model, separating claim counts and severities, then propose a premium calculation method, and finally a parameter estimation procedure. In the modelling we assume a Bayesian approach as used in credibility theory, a credibility approach for premium calculation and the use of the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm in the estimation procedure.

math.ST↗

arXiv2018

Dynamics of drainage under stochastic rainfall in river networks

We consider a linearized dynamical system modelling the flow rate of water along the rivers and hillslopes of an arbitrary watershed. The system is perturbed by a random rainfall in the form of a compound Poisson process. The model describes the evolution, at daily time scales, of an interconnected network of linear reservoirs and takes into account the differences in flow celerity between hillslopes and streams as well as their spatial variation. The resulting stochastic process is a piece-wise deterministic Markov process of the Orstein-Uhlembeck type. We provide an explicit formula for the Laplace transform of the invariant density of streamflow in terms of the geophysical parameters of the river network and the statistical properties of the precipitation field. As an application, we include novel formulas for the invariant moments of the streamflow at the watershed's outlet, as well as the asymptotic behavior of extreme discharge events.

math.PR↗

arXiv2016

Ruin probabilities with dependence on the number of claims within a fixed time window

We analyse the ruin probabilities for a renewal insurance risk process with inter-arrival time distributions depending on the claims that arrived within a fixed (past) time window. This dependence could be explained through a regenerative structure. The main inspiration of the model comes from the Bonus-Malus feature. We discuss first asymptotic results of ruin probabilities for different regimes of claim distributions. For numerical results, we recognise an embedded Markov additive process. Via an appropriate change of measure, ruin probabilities could be computed to a closed form formulae. Additionally, we present simulated results via the importance sampling method, which further permit an in-depth analysis of a few concrete cases.

math.PR↗

arXiv2011

Exact and asymptotic results for insurance risk models with surplus-dependent premiums

In this paper we develop a symbolic technique to obtain asymptotic expressions for ruin probabilities and discounted penalty functions in renewal insurance risk models when the premium income depends on the present surplus of the insurance portfolio. The analysis is based on boundary problems for linear ordinary differential equations with variable coefficients. The algebraic structure of the Green's operators allows us to develop an intuitive way of tackling the asymptotic behavior of the solutions, leading to exponential-type expansions and Cramér-type asymptotics. Furthermore, we obtain closed-form solutions for more specific cases of premium functions in the compound Poisson risk model.

q-fin.CP↗