The Demand for fake sports goods in Bulgaria

Counterfeiting is a social-economic phenomenon, which dates back to ancient Rome, Egypt, Greek and China thousands of years ago. The impact of counterfeiting on the global economics as a whole has broader effects. Along with that, it affects the society by harming the consumers' well-being due to the inferior quality of the counterfeit products offered. Nowadays, counterfeiting encompasses products in all sectors of the economy of a country. Negative effects include the increase of the unemployment rate, tax losses, decrease in FDI flows, environmental problems and the growth of the underground sector. In addition, counterfeiting and piracy represent a source of finance for terrorist organisations and organised crime. In the light of the alarming rates of counterfeiting and piracy and the even more perturbed projections, it is essential to declare the magnitude of counterfeiting and to develop appropriate strategies on national and supranational level in order to tackle this colossal problem. The aim of this book is to shed light upon the reasons underlying the counterfeiting's colossal growth rate based on a specific sector - sports goods- and in a particular country - Bulgaria.