This 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.