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Optimal ratcheting of dividends in insurance

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  • Hansjoerg Albrecher
  • Pablo Azcue
  • Nora Muler

Abstract

We address a long-standing open problem in risk theory, namely the optimal strategy to pay out dividends from an insurance surplus process, if the dividend rate can never be decreased. The optimality criterion here is to maximize the expected value of the aggregate discounted dividend payments up to the time of ruin. In the framework of the classical Cram\'{e}r-Lundberg risk model, we solve the corresponding two-dimensional optimal control problem and show that the value function is the unique viscosity solution of the corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation. We also show that the value function can be approximated arbitrarily closely by ratcheting strategies with only a finite number of possible dividend rates and identify the free boundary and the optimal strategies in several concrete examples. These implementations illustrate that the restriction of ratcheting does not lead to a large efficiency loss when compared to the classical un-constrained optimal dividend strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Hansjoerg Albrecher & Pablo Azcue & Nora Muler, 2019. "Optimal ratcheting of dividends in insurance," Papers 1910.06910, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2021.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:1910.06910
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Philip H. Dybvig, 1995. "Dusenberry's Ratcheting of Consumption: Optimal Dynamic Consumption and Investment Given Intolerance for any Decline in Standard of Living," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(2), pages 287-313.
    2. Hansjoerg Albrecher & Nicole Bäuerle & Martin Bladt, 2018. "Dividends: From Refracting to Ratcheting," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 18-32, Swiss Finance Institute.
    3. Azcue, Pablo & Muler, Nora, 2012. "Optimal dividend policies for compound Poisson processes: The case of bounded dividend rates," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 26-42.
    4. Bahman Angoshtari & Erhan Bayraktar & Virginia R. Young, 2018. "Optimal Dividend Distribution Under Drawdown and Ratcheting Constraints on Dividend Rates," Papers 1806.07499, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2019.
    5. Pablo Azcue & Nora Muler, 2005. "Optimal Reinsurance And Dividend Distribution Policies In The Cramér‐Lundberg Model," Mathematical Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(2), pages 261-308, April.
    6. Hans Gerber & Elias Shiu, 2006. "On Optimal Dividend Strategies In The Compound Poisson Model," North American Actuarial Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 76-93.
    7. Albrecher, Hansjörg & Bäuerle, Nicole & Bladt, Martin, 2018. "Dividends: From refracting to ratcheting," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 47-58.
    8. Benjamin Avanzi & Vincent Tu & Bernard Wong, 2016. "A Note on Realistic Dividends in Actuarial Surplus Models," Risks, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-9, October.
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