Evaluation of the Impact of Informal Trade using Neutrosophic Cognitive Maps and Weighted Power Mean Operator

Abstract

The commercial relationships that are generated as part of economic development can be classified as formal or 
informal according to the nature of their transactions. Informal trade establishes a direct relationship with social forces. 
However, evaluating the impact of informal trade represents an unsolved task for science. This research proposes a solution 
to the posed problem by developing a method to evaluate the impact of informal trade. The proposed method consist of 
modeling causal relationships using Cognitive Maps and the Weighted Power Mean (WPM) operator. It models uncertainty 
using Neutrosophic Numbers. The proposal has been implemented in the Mariscal de Puyo market, where it was possible 
to quantify its impact.