| Sumario: | This paper addresses the dynamics of world
wine consumption over the past 50 years in
26 countries, verifying whether or not there is a
macro-tendency towards a common consumption
style, despite differences in taxation, economic
policies and distribution systems among
countries. From an empirical point of view, the
σ and β convergence hypotheses were formally
tested. Model results confirm the existence of both
types of convergences. Per capita consumption of
wine first experienced a reduction in differences
between countries and then converged toward
a central value. "Traditional" countries, with
historically high levels of consumption, showed
a decrease in wine consumption, while emerging
countries with historically lower consumption
levels showed an increase. These findings not
only provide further support to the theory of
international convergence of wine consumption
on a volume basis, as already observed by other
researchers in the European market, but they
also offer support for the theory in major world
markets. Furthermore, convergence appears to
be happening not only at a quantitative level but
at qualitative level as well, and this phenomenon
may very well reflect the changing tastes of
worldwide consumers towards a generalized
structure of wine consumption.
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