Threshold Autoregressive Nearest-Neighbour Models for Claims Reserving

Motivated by claims reserving in run-off triangles, a class of threshold autoregressive nearest-neighbour (TAR-NN) models extending a major class of parametric nonlinear time series models, namely threshold autoregressive (TAR) models, is introduced. The proposed class of models also introduces a flexible regime-switching mechanism to nearest-neighbour models. Attention is given to a sub-class of TAR-NN models, namely self-exciting threshold autoregressive nearest-neighbour models (SETAR-NN), for uses in claims reserving. The (strict) stationarity and geometric ergodicity of the SETAR-NN model, and more generally, a two-dimensional nonlinear autoregressive random field, are discussed. The conditional least-square (CLS) method is used to estimate the SETAR-NN model and some of its nested models. Simulation studies on the parameter estimates from the CLS method are conducted. Using real insurance claims data and stochastic simulations, the applications of the SETAR-NN model and the nested models for projecting future claims liabilities are discussed. Comparisons of those models with the Bootstrap-Chain-Ladder (BCL) model for claims reserving are provided.