Small Trade and the World Economy: Informal Vendors in Quito, Ecuador

AbstractThis study contributes to the current debate on the urban informal sector surrounding its heterogeneous structure, the range of urban employment forms, and the nature of its integration into the national and global economy. I argue that these debates are characterized by a strong bias toward production and the manufacturing sector. This paper examines the way small vendors are linked to national and global systems of production and distribution and how this creates differences among informal workers with respect to income, profit levels, and socioeconomic well-being. Field research carried out in Quito, Ecuador, demonstrates that informal trade is differentiated by a variety of characteristics that lead to a continuum of economic and social well-being, ranging from pure survival to ownership of well-established businesses. Key economic variables that define vendors' economic conditions are associated with product and capital supply linkages. Based on these findings, I develop a typology of informa...