Informal economy in Leon, Guanajuato. The case of the tianguistas

Abstract

The objective was to know from primary sources the causes that force tianguistas to informality, having as a case study the tianguistas in the City of León de los Aldama. It is based on the hypothesis that the informality of tianguistas is not only due to structural problems, but also to survival strategies of some social groups that overcome structural inequalities and even achieve a certain social mobility by taking advantage of the regulatory and fiscal loopholes in the formal economy. For this purpose, methodologically the approach was achieved through interviews and a survey with economic actors, who provided first-hand information about the causes and strategies towards informality. In addition to analyzing with greater certainty the size of the phenomenon, in the qualitative aspect of the research progress was made in understanding the social and economic aspects of these merchants in the informality of the tianguis in León, which was achieved from an applied survey to a representative sample of the more than 36,000 merchants who settle in the 224 tianguis in León, Guanajuato. In the results, social and economic aspects were known with which it is possible to corroborate the hypothesis, that is, the decision to be a tianguista not only involves conditions of inequality that arise from structural aspects; but it is also a survival strategy in the face of said structural inequalities.