Collective beliefs and representations on the effects of rice price and subsidy policies in Burkina Faso

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyse the beliefs of actors in the rice sector in Burkina in the increase of rice production, basing firstly on the work of Menger, Wieser Von Mises, Böhm-Bawerk Aréna, Festré, Berkane, Commons, Schumpeter, from the foundations up to the process of imitation and sharing of beliefs, secondly, basing on the work of Dempster Shafer, Smets, from beliefs sharing, collective representation up to the level of decision-making. The transposition of the work of these authors to analyse the beliefs of actors in the rice sector in Burkina shown that the representations of beliefs and their adoption by rice farmers are never collective and complete. Beliefs are based on individual motivations, personal interests and past experiences. This theory seems the most relevant. Thus, economic studies on the behaviour of agricultural households must be a prerequisite before making decisions based on beliefs.