Decent Work and the Processes of Informality

This chapter explores and analyzes the scope of decent employment in the Wholesale Market of Ambato, Ecuador, which derives from processes of informality. The first part examines the reconfiguration of working conditions over time, including the recommendations that have been implemented and how these changes have affected society based on the importance of work in different areas. In the second part, in addition to an extensive conceptual analysis, the data collection (surveys) carried out in the market itself is reported on. In a third phase, a full analysis of the market is presented in the context of its position as one of the most strategically important axes for the distribution of goods at the local and national level. This analysis examines and highlights the degradation of working conditions that are affected by the process informality and establishes an idealized relationship between working conditions and the need to conserve employment in the face of the exogenous agents that influence its development.