Abstract

LAWRENCE, Pareena G.  and  CASTRO, Sandra. Government intervention in street vending activities in Guayaquil, Ecuador: a case study of vendors in the municipal markets. Prob. Des [online]. 2006, vol.37, n.144, pp.145-170. ISSN 0301-7036.

In the past three decades, development economists have not only acknowledged the existence of what has been named the urban informal sector, but have emphasized its impact on rural to urban migration, GDP growth rate and urban poverty. Important questions that economists have about this sector are: how should governments in developing countries approach a growing informal sector? Does affirmative government intervention raise the incomes of participants in this sector who directly benefit from such intervention? Does helping this sector lead to an increase in rural to urban migration? We examine some of these issues by profiling the participants in this sector and analyzing the impact of government policies to organize street vendors in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Seventy-six vendors in the City Council markets were surveyed for this purpose. Our survey analysis reveals some surprising results and confirms some stylized facts about vendors in the informal sector in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Keywords : urban Informal Sector; Street vendors; Government intervention; Ecuador.

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