Gabith Miriam Quispe FernándezDante Ayaviri NinaMarlon Villa VillaRodrigo Velarde FloresMarieta Tapia Muñoz2026-03-222026-03-22202010.5539/ies.v13n8p42https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v13n8p42https://andeanlibrary.org/handle/123456789/68754This research aims to identify the motivating factors that influence the development of informal trade by merchants in the Republic of Ecuador. For this, the inductive method, at causal-statistical level, is applied; making use of a questionnaire as an information collection tool, with a sample of 310 informal merchants from a population of 3,600 located in the city of Riobamba. Factor analysis and linear regression are used. Results show that informal activity is related to unemployment, independence and necessity; being that informal trade depends on age, marital status, ethnicity, area, economic income, location, need, and lack of knowledge about public spaces and taxation regulations.enMarital statusInformal sectorSample (material)Ethnic groupUnemploymentPopulationIndependence (probability theory)Regression analysisData collectionDemographic economicsarticle