Simple python function to return a default value depending on the data type

default.py

def clear(i):
    if isinstance(i, basestring):
        return ''
    elif isinstance(i, int):
        return 0
    elif isinstance(i, float):
        return 0.0
    elif i is None:
        return None
    elif isinstance(i, dict):
        return {k: clear(v) for k,v in i.iteritems()}
    elif isinstance(i, list):
        return [clear(item) for item in i]
    raise TypeError('unknown type ' + str(type(i)))