SIGMA AND BETA CONVERGENCE OF SPORTSWEAR MARKETS IN EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES

The convergence is a popular research topic however it is usually addressed in the context of the income (growth theory) or prices. This paper deals with sportswear sales convergence in European Union countries. The scope of the analysis is Sportswear market. Sportswear is defined as an aggregation of performance, outdoor and sports-inspired clothing and footwear. Two data sources were used: Passport database for Sportswear sales data, and Eurostat database for demographic data (population). The analysis covers all European Union countries except Cyprus, Luxemburg, and Malta which have been excluded due to lack of market sales data (not available in Passport database). Analysis has been performed for the period of eleven years from 2007 to 2017. The objective of the research was to investigate the presence of two types of convergence: sigma and unconditional beta convergence, that is to verify two hypotheses: sigma convergence is present in sportswear markets in selected 25 European Union countries, and unconditional beta convergence is present in sportswear markets in selected 25 European Union countries. The presence of sigma convergence was proved by analysis of standard deviation of the natural logarithm of sales figures. The presence of beta convergence was proved using beta convergence model formulated by Barro and Sala-i-Martin. The paper concludes that both sigma and unconditional beta convergence exist.