Showing posts with label Claims. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Claims. Show all posts
Creating a matrix from a long data.frame
There can never be too many examples for transforming data with R. So, here is another example of reshaping a
Here I have a data frame that shows incremental claim payments over time for different loss occurrence (origin) years.
The format of the data frame above is how this kind of data is usually stored in a data base. However, I would like to see the payments of the different origin years in rows of a matrix.
The first idea might be to use the
An elegant alternative to
data.frame into a matrix.Here I have a data frame that shows incremental claim payments over time for different loss occurrence (origin) years.
The format of the data frame above is how this kind of data is usually stored in a data base. However, I would like to see the payments of the different origin years in rows of a matrix.
The first idea might be to use the
reshape function, but that would return a data.frame. Yet, it is actually much easier with the matrix function itself. Most of the code below is about formatting the dimension names of the matrix. Note that I use the with function to save me a bit of typing.An elegant alternative to
matrix provides the acast function of the reshape2 package. It has a nice formula argument and allows me not only to specify the aggregation function, but also to add the margin totals.Claims Inflation - a known unknown
Over the last year I worked with two colleagues of mine on the subject of inflation and claims inflation in particular. I didn't expect it to be such a challenging topic, but we ended up with more questions than answers. The key question and biggest challenge is to define what inflation, or indeed claims inflation actually is and how to measure it. We published a summary of our thoughts and findings in this month's issue of The Actuary.
Last year's discussion about the differences between the retail price index (RPI) and consumer price index (CPI) in the UK only exemplified the challenge. The economist Tim Harford illustrated the differences between the RPI and CPI with a simple example of price changes for a shirt and blouse in his Radio 4 programme More or Less. The radio podcast is still available from the BBC. Start listening after about 18 minutes into the show.
Last year's discussion about the differences between the retail price index (RPI) and consumer price index (CPI) in the UK only exemplified the challenge. The economist Tim Harford illustrated the differences between the RPI and CPI with a simple example of price changes for a shirt and blouse in his Radio 4 programme More or Less. The radio podcast is still available from the BBC. Start listening after about 18 minutes into the show.
