Child labor in agricultural households in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Mali: test of the luxury axiom by a fuzzy sets theory approach

This study highlights the role of poverty factor in the explanation of child labor, by taking the work of Basu & Van (1999) as a theoretical basis. Thus, besides the search for the determinants of child labor by a multivariate approach, it tests the hypothesis of the luxury axiom which link child labor to the household poverty and vulnerability levels. As main results, it appears that poverty plays a significant role in Ivory Coast, while Burkina Faso and Mali are characterized much more by the impact of the cultural factors. Otherwise, it appears that in Ivory Coast, household poverty is particularly relevant to the agricultural activities. Some elements of recommendations to both the national or international stakeholders, for an effective fight against the child labor under these unacceptable forms have been proposed.