On the Structure and Classification of Mortality Models

Recently there has been a huge increase in the use of models that examine the structure of mortality rates across the dimensions of age, period and cohort. This article reviews the major developments in the field, provides a holistic analysis of these models, and examines the models’ similarities and differences. Specifically, the article reviews the models that have been proposed to date, investigates the structure of age/period/cohort mortality models, introduces a classification scheme for existing models, and lists the key principles a model user should consider when constructing a new model in this class.