In this paper, an empirical study is carried out in order to identify the corporate  financial patterns of non-financial firms in seven Continental European countries for the period 1991-2001. We depart from the usual binary distinction between market-based and bank-based systems and propose an original theoretical framework in order to explain diversity. Using the BACH database, principal component and cluster analyses are carried out. When the sample is limited to the manufacturing sector, we get interesting outcomes for a comparative analysis. We test econometrically the thesis of a common trend toward disintermediation and find that cross-country differences in the use of short-term bank debt
have been reduced whilst differences in the use of medium- and long-term bank debt have remained unchanged. In Continental Europe, banks tend to become more reluctant to finance the day-to-day business of non-financial firms. This evidence suggests that changes have been pushed by banks rather than pulled by markets.