The Fair Pricing Playbook

A practical framework for developing, evaluating, and auditing fair algorithmic pricing systems (2026)

Author

Fei Huang, UNSW Sydney

The Fair Pricing Playbook

An open guide for building algorithmic pricing systems that are accurate, defensible, and fair. The playbook has four steps (one page each), with references at the bottom of every step.

Open the site at fair.feihuang.org (source: github.com/feihuangFH/fair-pricing-playbook).

Four steps

Step Topic Question Page
1 Fairness metrics What is fair? Define fairness
2 Fair models How to achieve fairness? Design fair pricing
3 Welfare implications Who gains and loses? Assess impact
4 Fairness testing Does it work? Audit the system
Who it is for

Actuaries, data scientists, compliance leaders, and regulators who need a structured, repeatable workflow.

End-to-end audit flow

Step 4 follows an integrated Plan → Audit → Decide → Improve protocol (Huang and Hooker 2026). All design choices are fixed before examining data.

End-to-end fairness audit flow: Plan, Audit, Decide, Improve

Plan · Audit · Decide · Improve

Phase Actions
Plan Select criterion (PD or CDP), legitimate factors, tolerance bands, representative sample
Audit Collect quotes; run statistical fairness tests with corrected inference
Decide Pass, insufficient information, or fail (equivalence testing)
Improve Remediate and re-test; collect more data if unclear

Full detail: Step 4: Audit the system.

Research map

Step Key references
1 Frees and Huang (2023); Xin and Huang (2024); Krafcheck, Balnozan, and Huang (2026)
2 Xin and Huang (2024)
3 Huang, Shimao, and Khern-am-nuai (2026); Huang and Shimao (2026)
4 Huang and Hooker (2026)

About the Author

Dr. Fei Huang

School of Risk and Actuarial Studies, UNSW Business School

Email: feihuang@unsw.edu.au · Website: feihuang.org

Dr. Fei Huang is an Associate Professor (with tenure) in Risk and Actuarial Studies at UNSW Business School. She holds degrees from Xiamen University (BSc), the University of Hong Kong (MPhil), and the Australian National University (PhD). Her research sits at the intersection of responsible AI, insurance, and data-driven decision-making, with emphasis on insurance and retirement systems that stay fair, sustainable, and resilient amid technological and climate change. She draws on statistics, machine learning, economics, and actuarial science to develop approaches that are accurate, interpretable, and equitable.

Her work has been recognised with awards including the Australian Business Deans Council Award for Innovation and Excellence in Research, the Dean’s Award for Distinction, the North American Actuarial Journal Best Paper Award, and the Actuaries Institute Volunteer of the Year Award, and is supported by competitive funding such as Australian Research Council Discovery Projects and the National Industry PhD Program. She is a columnist for Actuaries Digital, works with industry and government on topics from fair pricing to longevity and climate resilience, and has advised regulators internationally, including as an invited expert at the New York State Assembly public hearing on AI in insurance. At UNSW she teaches actuarial data science and responsible AI and has received multiple teaching excellence awards.

License

Materials are licensed under CC BY 4.0. See LICENSE.

How to cite

If you are using this playbook in your academic work, please find below an example for referencing it using the APA citation style.

Huang, F. (2026). The Fair Pricing Playbook: A practical framework for fair algorithmic pricing. fair.feihuang.org (source: github.com/feihuangFH/fair-pricing-playbook).

References

Frees, Edward W, and Fei Huang. 2023. “The Discriminating (Pricing) Actuary.” North American Actuarial Journal 27 (1): 2–24.
Huang, Fei, and Giles Hooker. 2026. “Fairness Testing for Algorithmic Pricing.” https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.11614.
Huang, Fei, and Hajime Shimao. 2026. “Welfare Implications of Fair and Accountable Insurance Pricing.” Journal of Risk and Insurance. https://doi.org/10.1111/jori.70051.
Huang, Fei, Hajime Shimao, and Warut Khern-am-nuai. 2026. “Do Fair Algorithms Improve Welfare? Evidence from the Insurance Market.” UNSW Business School Research Paper Forthcoming. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5112616.
Krafcheck, Eric, Igor Balnozan, and Fei Huang. 2026. “Fairness Metrics for Life Insurance.” Society of Actuaries Research Institute. https://www.soa.org/resources/research-reports/2026/fairness-metrics-life-insurance/.
Xin, Xi, and Fei Huang. 2024. “Antidiscrimination Insurance Pricing: Regulations, Fairness Criteria, and Models.” North American Actuarial Journal 28 (2): 285–319.