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 PA LG R AV E M AC M I L L A N S T U D I E S I N
BANKING AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
S E R I E S E D I TO R : P H I L I P M O LY N E U X

Access to Bank Credit

and SME Financing

Edited by
Stefania Patrizia Sonia Rossi
Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and
Financial Institutions

Series Editor

Philip Molyneux
Bangor University
United Kingdom
Aim of the series
The Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions
series is international in orientation and includes studies of banking sys-
tems in particular countries or regions as well as contemporary themes
such as Islamic Banking, Financial Exclusion, Mergers and Acquisitions,
Risk Management, and IT in Banking. The books focus on research and
practice and include up to date and innovative studies that cover issues
which impact banking systems globally.

More information about this series at

http://www.springer.com/series/14678
 Stefania Patrizia Sonia Rossi
Editor

Access to Bank Credit

and SME Financing
Editor
Stefania Patrizia Sonia Rossi
Department of Economics and Business
University of Cagliari
Italy

Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions

ISBN 978-3-319-41362-4    ISBN 978-3-319-41363-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-41363-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016957875

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017

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For my mother, brilliant mind, source of strength and inspiration.
Stefania
 Foreword

Following the global financial and European sovereign debt crises,

liquidity shortage and heavy restrictions on bank financing have worsened
conditions in credit markets for non-financial firms in Europe. Given
their importance as drivers of employment, growth, and innovation in
the European economy, easy access to credit becomes crucial especially
for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which dominate
the business landscape in Europe and rely heavily on bank financing.
The difficulties in accessing and obtaining a bank loan appear even more
severe in the stressed countries that are struggling with the negative
consequences of the financial crisis due to their macroeconomic weaknesses
and financial fragility. Such distress increases the likelihood of credit crunch
phenomena—as banks tend to transfer the stress to the borrowers—which,
in turn, affect access and cost of funding for enterprises.
These issues were discussed by leading scholars in the field at the
international workshop ‘Access to Bank Credit and SME Financing’, held
in Pula, Sardinia, on 10 October 2015. This book collects some of the
papers presented at the workshop and is organised into two parts.
The first part, Credit Market Environment and SME Finance in Europe,
focuses on the issue of viability in credit access and on the financing
difficulties encountered by SMEs. It is widely accepted in the literature
that SMEs pay more for bank financing than larger firms because of
the SME’s peculiarities, such as higher observed default rates and more
vii
viii Foreword

e­ xposure to idiosyncratic risk, stronger reliance on the domestic economy,

a narrower set of available financing options, intrinsic lack of ability to
produce high-quality collateral, and lack of transparency related to their
creditworthiness.
In addition to these features, the structure of the credit market,
the fragility of the banking system, the sovereign debt crisis, and the
social, institutional, and legal framework all seem to play a role, widely
recognized in the literature, in affecting SME access to credit.
The chapters collected in this part investigate the abovementioned
issues using different perspectives and methodological strategies and
provide state-of-the-art insight into SME financing in Europe.
It is worth noting that several studies included in this part of the book
rely on unique data provided by the ECB Survey on the Access to Finance
of Enterprises (SAFE), which, since 2009, collects comparable, timely,
and frequent financial information about access to credit and financing
constraints experienced by firms as well as a series of firm characteristics
related to SMEs in the European Union.
The first chapter by Ferrando and Mavrakis examines the external
financing channels of non-financial firms, comparing SMEs and mid-­
caps with large enterprises over the period 2009–2015. In particular, the
chapter offers an analysis of the non-bank funding available to SMEs
(i.e. grants/subsidized loans, trade credit, other loans, leasing, debt
securities, mezzanine financing, equity) and uses the SAFE data to assess
whether these alternative sources of funding are accessible to SMEs and
how their use differs across firms and countries. After demonstrating that
trade credit as an alternative to bank loans is the most common source of
funding for ‘credit constrained firms’, the authors highlight the different
pattern between constrained firms in stressed versus non-stressed countries.
The evidence shows that it is more difficult for constrained firms in
stressed countries to switch between sources of financing. Further, the
results show that large firms access various sources of financing more
easily, while the market-based funding is rarely accessible to SMEs.
In the second chapter, Moro, Maresch, Ferrando, and Barbar
investigate how the ability of banks to recover loans from borrowers
in financial distress affects the propensity of banks to supply credit as
well as the propensity of SMEs to apply for bank loans. Combining the
 Foreword ix

SAFE data with data from the World Bank Doing Business dataset, the
evidence shows that while banks’ recovery rates seem to negatively affect
the firms’ decision to apply for credit, surprisingly, it does not affect the
banks’ decision to provide credit. Additionally, the study shows that
banks’ recovery rates play a different role depending on the country-level
macroeconomic context. The authors compare the economically weak
countries with the strong ones and find that high recovery rates affect
loan applications in the economically strong countries, and the banks’
decision to provide a loan in the weak countries.
In Chap. 3, Galli, Mascia, and Rossi combine two strands of the
literature: one that looks at the effects of legal-institutional factors and
one that focuses on the impact of social capital in the credit markets.
They shed light on the determinants of the cost of funding for SMEs in
the euro area. In particular, the authors’ goal is to verify whether features
such as the institutional and legal framework and the level of social capital
significantly affect the cost of funding for SMEs in the euro area. The
authors perform an empirical analysis based on a large sample of 22,295
firm-level observations from 2009 to 2013 for a sample of 11 euro area
countries, taken from the SAFE. Their findings show that a less efficient
judicial system as well as a higher degree of concentration in the banking
industry increases the cost of funding for SMEs. The cost of funding for
SMEs is, instead, reduced when the market share of cooperative banks
and the social capital are higher. Overall, the study supports the view that
a better institutional environment and a wider presence of social capital
produce positive externalities in the credit market.
The analysis carried out in Chap. 4 by Stefani and Vacca is rooted in
the literature on gender discrimination in the credit market. The authors
investigate whether the gender of the firm’s manager/owner affects the
access of small firms to credit. The credit constraint of non-financial firms
may, in general, be either due to rejection by the bank (lender), or due
to self-restraint from the borrower who decides not to apply for a loan,
fearing the lender’s rejection. Relying on a large sample of SMEs (SAFE
data) pertaining to the main euro area countries, the evidence shows that
firms with female leadership use smaller amounts and less heterogeneous
sources of external finance than their male counterparts. In addition, as
they anticipate a rejection by the lender, they self-restrain in applying to
x Foreword

bank loans more than male-led firms and experience a higher rejection rate.
However, the econometric analysis does not provide evidence that banks
are biased against female-led firms. Rather, the different patterns for female-
and male-led firms are largely explained by some endogenous characteristics
of female-led firms that structurally affect their credit constraint.
Chapter 5 focuses on the evolution of the cost of financing for SMEs
across banks and countries in the euro area over the period 2007–2015.
Using the interest rate differential on loans—the small firm financing
premium (SFFP)—Holton and McCann test whether smaller firms pay an
interest rate premium compared with larger firms when borrowing from
banks. Their findings show that there has been a divergence in financing
conditions across firm types; SMEs, compared with larger firms, have
experienced a disproportionate increase in borrowing costs and a decline
in access to credit. This deterioration has been particularly acute in stressed
economies: a clear bifurcation in the SFFP between stressed and non-
stressed economies in late 2010 emerges from the analysis. The authors
are also able to show that the increase in banks’ non-­performing loan and
credit default swap (CDS) spreads is associated with the increased cost of
borrowing for SMEs as measured by the increase in the SFFP.
In Chap. 6, Mascia, Mattana, Rossi, and D’Aietti investigate the causal
relation between sovereign and bank credit risk in order to understand
whether increases in sovereign risk (measured via sovereign CDS spreads)
have an impact on the market perception of bank credit risk (measured
via banks’ CDS quotes). The contagion effect between stressed sovereigns
and the banking industry may be due to the exposure of domestic banks
to their own country’s public debt. Based on daily quotes from 24 banks,
pertaining to 7 euro-zone countries, for the period between 1 January
2010 and 27 May 2014, the chapter provides empirical evidence that
sovereign CDSs have played a relevant role during the sovereign debt
crisis in Europe, that is, the market perception about a country’s credit
risk significantly affected the evolution of banks’ CDSs. These findings
support the view that distressed banks, in response to the developments in
sovereign debt turmoil, reduce lending to the private sector and increase
the cost of funding for enterprises. This, in turn, penalises especially
the SMEs, which, as often shown in the literature, heavily rely on bank
financing.
 Foreword xi

Finally, Chap. 7 by Brogi and Lagasio contributes to the debate

about the determinants of bank lending by investigating whether the
financing constraints in accessing bank credit for SMEs stem from their
creditworthiness and fragility in the financial structure. The evidence
provided in the chapter is based on a large sample of 500,000 annual
financial statements of SMEs from the 4 largest euro area countries (France,
Germany, Italy, and Spain) in the period 2006–2014. The authors show
that credit rationing suffered by SMEs depends mainly on their excessive
leverage. They also suggest that SMEs need more equity rather than more
debt in order to grow. The chapter provides insights for policy makers
as well. In addition to promoting expansionary monetary policies, policy
makers should support SMEs access to equity financing. The issue is
particularly relevant for the European economic policy agenda.
The second part of the book, SME funding and the role of alternative
non-bank finance in Italy, is a collection of microeconomic essays, which
analyse the effects of the global financial crisis on the financial structure
of SMEs, with a particular focus on the Italian market. In particular, the
contributions here discuss the effects on enterprises induced by the Basel
regulations as well as the differences among Italian regions in terms of
cost of funding for SMEs. Further, some studies discuss the importance
of diversification in funding for SMEs, and analyse how regulators may
facilitate access to the array of financing instruments available to businesses
(inter alia, minibonds, ELTIFs) as an alternative to the traditional bank
lending channel.
In Chap. 8, Vozzella and Gabbi present an empirical investigation based
on a large sample of Italian SMEs in the period 1997–2013. They aim to
assess whether these companies’ credit portfolios are diversified and how
regulation (i.e., Basel) may affect lending choices. In particular, the study
examines how the relationships between asset correlation and size as well
as asset correlation and risk affect the access to credit for non-financial
companies. The evidence indicates that Basel requirements considerably
overestimate the fair capital absorption for SMEs and underestimate the
need for capital of firms with the highest probability of default. This leads
to a potential adverse selection problem; the paper advocates the revision
of the regulatory framework to calibrate the asset correlation coefficients
and address the issue of procyclicality.
xii Foreword

Chapter 9 by Malavasi and Aliano aims at explaining the reasons for

the differences in interest rates charged on loans to SMEs (denoted as
‘spread’) in the Italian regions for the period 2010–2014. The authors
use data from several sources (Bank of Italy, ISTAT, Prometeia). They
take into consideration the characteristics of both the demand and the
supply of loans, employing two indexes for the demand side (one that
captures the industrial specialization in each region and another that
measures the degree of concentration in bank lending by borrower size,
and one index of the bank lending specialisation for the supply side).
They provide evidence that, compared with the northern regions, SMEs
in southern Italy pay higher interest on loans. Further, an unfavourable
relation between interest spreads and credit quality is detected.
Chapter 10 by Malavasi, Riccio, and Aliano provides an analysis of
the market for the so-called minibonds that started to operate in Italy
for SMEs in 2013. This market offers a way of funding for enterprises,
alternative to the most traditional banking channel. The study, based on
balance sheet data from Aida (Bureau van Dijk) as well as on specific
data taken from company reports (available online) offers an analysis of
the characteristics of the issuer companies in the period 2013–2015. The
evidence shows that issuers’ characteristics vary according to the type of
main organisational structure and according to the motivation declared
when approaching this instrument. The chapter also offers some policy
implications aimed at improving this instrument’s ability to satisfy the
financial needs of an increasing portion of SMEs.
An analysis of ELTIFs (European long-term investment funds)—a new
vehicle specifically created to stimulate SMEs financing—concludes this
book. In Chap. 11, Crespi analyses the Italian asset management sector
(which has seen an increase of 95% during the period 2011–2015) and
examines the actual (and potential) amount of financial resources used by
mutual funds to finance SMEs. Addressed through a quantitative analysis
of the investments made by open-end mutual funds managed by domestic
investment houses, the topic is of great interest to both researchers and
authorities. The findings show that there are funds available and they
may be potentially dedicated to SME financing if adequate commercial
strategies and the right investment instruments (ELTIFs and other funds
specialized in SMEs financing) were used.
 Acknowledgements

The papers in this book have been discussed in several seminars and
presented at the international workshop ‘Access to bank credit and
SME financing’, a satellite session of the CLADAG Annual Meeting,
held in Pula, Sardinia, on 10 October 2015 (http://convegni.unica.it/
cladag2015/satellite-meeting/).
The Workshop, hosted by the Department of Economics and Business
of the University of Cagliari, was organized as a deliverable at the end of
the second year of the research project, ‘The global financial crisis and the
credit crunch—Policy implications’. As scientific coordinator of the proj-
ect, I gratefully acknowledge the research grant from the Autonomous
Region of Sardinia, Legge Regionale 2007, N. 7 [Grant Number CRP-­
59890, year 2012]. Additionally, as conference organiser, I would like to
thank all the conference participants for their active discussions during
the presentations.
As editor of this book, I would like to thank all the authors for their
contributions as well as the referees who acted as reviewers for the chap-
ters published in this volume.
Furthermore, I am thankful to Philip Molyneux, series editor for
Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions, for the opportunity to edit
this volume, and to the staff at Palgrave Macmillan, especially Aimee
Dibbens and Alexandra Morton, for helpful guidance.

xiii
xiv Acknowledgements

Finally, a special thanks goes to Danilo Mascia for the precious assis-
tance in the preparation of this volume as well as for the support in
organising the international workshop.
 Stefania P.S. Rossi
Cagliari, April 2016
 Contents

Part I Credit Market Environment and SME

Finance in Europe 1

1 Non-Bank Financing for Euro Area Companies During

the Crisis3

2 Neither a Borrower Nor a Lender Be! Loan Application

and Credit Decision for Young European Firms29

3 Legal-Institutional Environment, Social Capital

and the Cost of Bank Financing for SMEs: Evidence
from the Euro Area59

4 Credit Access for Small Firms in the Euro Area:

Does Gender Matter?83

5 The Small Firm Financing Premium in Europe:

Where and When Do Small Firms Pay the Most?121

xv
xvi Contents

6 Sovereign and Bank CDS Spreads During the European

Debt Crisis: Laying the Foundation for SMEs’
Financial Distress149

7 SME Sources of Funding: More Capital or

More Debt to Sustain Growth? An Empirical Analysis173

Part II SME Funding and the Role of Alternative

Non-Bank Finance in Italy 201

8 SME Credit Access After Basel III. Does Size

(and Quality) Matter?203

9 Credit Supply and Bank Interest Rates in the

Italian Regions225

10 Corporate Bonds for SMEs: A Study of Italian Minibonds257

11 Using Open-End Mutual Fund Resources to

Finance SMEs: The Potential Market Share of ELTIFs287

Index313
 Notes on Contributors

Mauro Aliano is an Assistant Professor of Banking and Finance at the University

of Cagliari, Faculty of Economics, Law and Political Sciences. He is a specialist
in applying statistics techniques for analysing financial markets, in methods
for analysing financial instruments, and in portfolio models. In 2012, he
was a Research Fellow at the University of Rome Tor Vergata.
Julia Barbar holds a BSc in Accounting and Finance (Lebanese American
University) and an MSc Finance (Cranfield University). She was Financial and
Managerial Teacher’s Assistant at the Lebanese American University. Her research
interest is the ownership structure of SMEs and family-owned businesses.
Marina Brogi is Full Professor of International Banking and Capital Markets
and Corporate Governance at Sapienza University, where she also serves as Deputy
Dean of the Faculty of Economics. She teaches in graduate, MBA, PhD and exec-
utive courses at Sapienza University, SDA Bocconi and Luiss Business School.
Since January 2014 she has been one of the five top-­ranking independent academ-
ics appointed among the 30 members that make up the Securities and Markets
Stakeholder Group of the European Securities and Markets Authority. She is
author of many international publications, and her research interests are bank
management, capital markets and corporate governance.
Fabrizio Crespi is a Researcher at the University of Cagliari and a Contract Professor
at ALTIS (the Postgraduate School Business & Society of the Catholic University of
the Sacred Heart of Milan). After completing a PhD in “The e­ conomics of institu-
tions and business systems”, he has focused his academic career on financial innova-

xvii
xviii Notes on Contributors

tion. His main research concerns asset-backed securitization, asset management

products, asset allocation and financial planning, and innovative portfolio strategies.
Roberto D’Aietti has been a Research Assistant in Financial Economics at the
Department of Economics and Business of the University of Cagliari, where he
also received his Master’s in Economics.
Annalisa Ferrando is Principal Economist at the Capital Markets/Financial
Structure Division of the European Central Bank. Previously, she worked at the
Bank of Italy and at the European Commission. Her current research interests
lie in corporate finance, firms’ financial decisions, and financing constraints. In
these fields she has published numerous journal articles and working papers.
Giampaolo Gabbi is Professor of Financial Investments and Risk Management
at the University of Siena and Professor at SDA Bocconi Milan. He holds a PhD
in Financial Economics from Bocconi University and acts as a researcher in many
international research projects, such as Forecasting Financial Crises,
Measurements, Models and Predictions (FOC) and Financialisation, Economy,
Society and Sustainable Development (FESSUD). He has published articles in
refereed journals, including the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control,
Nature Scientific Report, European Financial Management, Journal of
International Financial Markets, Institutions & Money, and The European
Journal of Finance.
Emma Galli is Professor of Public Finance at the Department of Social and
Economic Sciences of Sapienza University of Rome . She has recently been a
visiting scholar at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and at
the University of Rennes 1. Her research in fiscal policies, decentralization,
economics of institutions, and economics of corruption has led to several
articles published in national and international journals, as well as mono-
graphs and edited books.
Sarah Holton is an Economist in the Monetary Analysis Division of the European
Central Bank. She holds a PhD from University College Dublin and her research
interests are in the areas of small and medium enterprise financing constraints and
the transmission of monetary policy through the banking system.
Valentina Lagasio is a PhD student in Management, Banking and Commodity
science, specialising in Banking and Finance at La Sapienza University of Rome,
where she graduated in Finance with honours in 2014. Her current research
 Notes on Contributors xix

interests mainly concern banking and financial intermediation, banking super-

vision, monetary policy transmission mechanisms and corporate governance.
Roberto Malavasi is Chair of Financial Markets and Institutions at the
Department of Economics and Business of the University of Cagliari. He has
taught banking and finance for more than 40 years. His publications comprise
various articles as well as textbooks in finance and international finance.
Daniela Maresch is Assistant Professor and Vice Head of the Institute for
Innovation Management (IFI) at Johannes Kepler University Linz. She gained
practical experience in financial reporting and in corporate law before moving to
academia in 2014. Her research focuses on the roles of the legal environ-
ment and trust in bank lending, the social impact of disruptive technolo-
gies, and protection of intellectual property rights in entrepreneurial firms.
Her research has been published in entrepreneurship and financial journals.
Danilo V. Mascia is a Research Fellow at the University of Cagliari (Italy) and a
Visiting Academic Research Fellow at Leeds University Business School (UK).
After gaining his BSc and MSc in Economics in Sardinia, he moved to the
University of Amsterdam, where he was awarded the title of MSc in Business
Economics. He later received his PhD in Business Economics from the University
of Cagliari, together with the title of Doctor Europaeus. His research interests are
in the areas of banking, regulation, and financing of small and medium firms.
Paolo Mattana is Professor of Economics and Head of the Department of
Economics and Business of the University of Cagliari (Italy). He currently con-
ducts courses in Financial Econometrics and Macroeconomics. His research
activity mainly focuses on growth theory (indeterminacy issues and chaotic solu-
tions) and on time series analysis in the context of regional and financial
economics, and it comprises publications in international journals.
Emmanouil Mavrakis is Senior Economist at the Capital Markets/Financial
Structure Division of the European Central Bank, seconded from the Bank of
Greece. He has previously held several positions in the financial sector and has a
lengthy academic experience. He has taught financial economics and banking
for many years, and his research interests include banking, financial markets,
investments, monetary economics, and NFCs’ financing conditions.
Fergal McCann is Senior Economist in the Financial Stability Division of the
Central Bank of Ireland. He holds a PhD from University College Dublin and
his research interests are in the areas of small and medium enterprise financing,
mortgage default, and macroprudential policy.
xx Notes on Contributors

Andrea Moro (Laurea, MBA, PhD) is Reader at Cranfield University, where he

is director of MSc Finance programmes and lectures Corporate Finance (MBA)
and Entrepreneurial Finance (MSc). He spent fifteen years in the consultancy
sector as financial advisor for SMEs before moving to academia in 2008. He
originally joined The Open University and then University of Leicester. His area
of interest is small business finance and lending relationships. He has published
in both entrepreneurial and finance journals. He is currently non-executive board
member of two schools.
Giuseppe Riccio is an Associate Professor of Business Administration at the
University of Cagliari, Faculty of Economics, Law and Political Sciences. He
previously worked in the banking supervision division of the Bank of Italy. His
books cover topics related to the financial statements of banks.
Stefania P.S. Rossi is Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics
and Business of the University of Cagliari (Italy). Since obtaining her PhD in
Economics from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, she has been a Postdoctoral
Visiting Scholar at Stanford University. She has been appointed as Economist at
the World Bank and as Professor at the University of Vienna as well as at the
International Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. Her publications comprise many
articles in the field of international monetary economics, financial markets and
banking, published in international academic journals as well as in edited books.
Maria Lucia Stefani is currently the head of the Library Division at the Bank
of Italy. She started her work at the Bank of Italy, dealing with studies in eco-
nomic history, and then regional economic research. Her main academic inter-
ests are banking and gender economics, on which she has authored various
articles and book chapters. She obtained her PhD in Economics from the
European University Institute in Florence (Italy).
Valerio Vacca is Senior Economist in the Bank of Italy’s Financial Stability
Directorate. He is currently a member of an international study group on the
ex-ante appraisal of macroprudential instruments. Previously, he dealt with
regional economic research and monetary policy implementation. His main
research interests are financial stability, banking, finance, and non-bank finance
for firms. He has authored articles and book chapters in these areas. He gradu-
ated from the Bocconi University in Milan.
Pietro Vozzella is currently a Research Fellow at the Department of
Management and Law of the University of Siena. His current and past research
fields include banking and financial systems, financial regulation and econom-
 Notes on Contributors xxi

ics, and access to bank credit and SME financing. He also worked for two years
in an Italian banking institution in the Credit Risk Management unit. He has
published in The European Journal of Finance, Intereconomics: Review of
European Economic Policy and PLoS ONE.
 List of Figures

Chart 1.1 Credit constrained firms in the sample period

(weighted averages) 13
Chart 1.2 Probability of using non-bank external instruments
(marginal effects) 20
Fig. 3.1 Cost of claim 66
Fig. 3.2 Number of procedures 67
Fig. 3.3 HHI of bank concentration 67
Fig. 3.4 Voter turnout 68
Fig. 3.5 World Giving Index 69
Fig. 3.6 Giving Time Index 69
Fig. 3.7 Annual percentage change of GDP growth 71
Fig. 3.8 Inflation rate 71
Fig. 3.9 Unemployment rate 72
Fig. 4.1 Sources of financing (1) (percentage frequencies) 97
Fig. 4.2 Application for bank loans and results (1)
(percentage frequencies) 98
Fig. 5.1 Spread between loans up to and over 1 million euro
(up to 1-year interest rate fixation, 3-month average) 128
Fig. 5.2 Histogram of SFFP values, 2007–2015 129
Fig. 5.3 Average and median SFFP across countries, 2007–2015 129
Fig. 5.4 Average SFFP across countries, 2007 and 2012 130
Fig. 5.5 Average monthly SFFP, stressed and non-stressed
economies 131

xxiii
xxiv List of Figures

Fig. 5.6 Monthly standard deviation in the SFFP,

stressed and non-stressed economies 131
Fig. 5.7 Relationship between national unemployment
and the SFFP 133
Fig. 5.8 Relationship between national unemployment
and the SFFP, Greece and Spain excluded 134
Fig. 5.9 SFFP within 50 quantiles of national unemployment 135
Fig. 5.10 Yearly average SFFP and bank dependence (2007–2012) 135
Fig. 5.11 SFFP across the distribution of market share 136
Fig. 5.12 Histogram of the share of SME loans in banks’
total corporate lending 137
Fig. 5.13 SFFP across the distribution of SME specialisation 138
Fig. 5.14 Average SFFP across the distribution of banks’
non-performing loan ratio 139
Fig. 5.15 Average SFFP across the distribution of banks’
CDS spread 140
Fig. 5.16 Average SFFP across the distribution of banks’
domestic sovereign debt holdings (measured per
bank-month as a percentage of total assets) 140
Fig. 5.17 Country-specific relationships: market share 142
Fig. 5.18 Country-specific relationships: SME specialization 143
Fig. 5.19 Country-specific relationships: NPL ratio 144
Fig. 5.20 Country-specific relationships: CDS spreads 144
Fig. 5.21 Country-specific relationships: holdings of domestic
government bonds 145
Fig. 6.1 Banks’ CDS spreads 155
Fig. 6.2 Sovereigns’ CDS spreads 157
Fig. 6.3 Banks and sovereigns CDSs 157
Fig. A.6.1 Austrian banks’ CDSs 163
Fig. A.6.2 French banks’ CDSs 164
Fig. A.6.3 German banks’ CDSs 164
Fig. A.6.4 Greek banks’ CDSs 165
Fig. A.6.5 Italian banks’ CDSs 165
Fig. A.6.6 Portuguese banks’ CDSs 166
Fig. A.6.7 Spanish banks’ CDSs 166
Fig. A.6.8 Sovereign CDS (Austria) 167
Fig. A.6.9 Sovereign CDS (France) 167
Fig. A.6.10 Sovereign CDS (Germany) 168
 List of Figures xxv

Fig. A.6.11 Sovereign CDS (Greece) 168

Fig. A.6.12 Sovereign CDS (Italy) 169
Fig. A.6.13 Sovereign CDS (Portugal) 169
Fig. A.6.14 Sovereign CDS (Spain) 170
Fig. 7.1 Reclassified balance sheet 185
Fig. 8.1 Asset correlation and firm size (1997–2013) 217
Fig. 8.2 Asset correlation and credit risk (1997–2013) 218
Fig. 8.3 Asset correlation for micro-firms by credit risk
(1997–2013) 219
Fig. 8.4 Asset correlation for small firms by credit risk
(1997–2013) 220
Fig. 8.5 Asset correlation for medium firms by credit risk
(1997–2013) 220
Fig. 9.1 Index of production specialization in Agriculture,
2010–2014 230
Fig. 9.2 Index of production specialization in Manufacturing,
2010–2014 230
Fig. 9.3 Index of loan specialization in Agriculture,
2010–2014 231
Fig. 9.4 Index of loan specialization in Manufacturing,
2010–2014 231
Fig. 9.5 Bank concentration index (by size class), 2010–2014 234
Fig. 9.6 Credit quality for non-financial companies,
2010–2014 235
Fig. 9.7 Credit quality for family businesses, 2010–2014 235
Fig. 9.8 Interest rate spreads with maturity up to 1 year for
non-financial companies, 2010–2014 237
Fig. 9.9 Interest rate spreads with maturity between 1 and
5 years for non-­financial companies, 2010–2014 237
Fig. 9.10 Interest rate spreads with maturity over 5 years for
non-financial companies, 2010–2014 238
Fig. A.9.1 Index of production specialization in Construction,
2010–2014 242
Fig. A.9.2 Index of production specialization in Services,
2010–2014 242
Fig. A.9.3 Index of loan specialization in Construction,
2010–2014 243
Fig. A.9.4 Index of production specialization in Services,
2010–2014 243
xxvi List of Figures

Fig. A.9.5 Credit quality for households, 2010–2014 244

Fig. A.9.6 Interest rate spreads with maturity between 1 and
5 years for households, 2010–2014 244
Fig. A.9.7 Interest rate spreads with maturity up to 1 year for
households, 2010–2014 245
Fig. A.9.8 Interest rate spreads with maturity over 5 years
for households, 2010–2014 245
Fig. A.9.9 Interest rate spreads with maturity between 1 and
5 years for family businesses, 2010–2014 246
Fig. A.9.10 Interest rate spreads with maturity up to 1 year
for family businesses, 2010–2014 246
Fig. A.9.11 Interest rate spreads with maturity over 5 years
for family businesses, 2010–2014 247
Fig. A.10.1 ind1, Group 1 276
Fig. A.10.2 ind2, Group 1 276
Fig. A.10.3 ind1, Group 2 277
Fig. A.10.4 ind2, Group 2 277
Fig. A.10.5 ind1, Group 3 278
Fig. A.10.6 ind2, Group 3 278
Fig. A.10.7 Ind1, motivation: investment 279
Fig. A.10.8 Ind2, motivation: investment 279
Fig. A.10.9 Ind1, motivation: diversification of sources of financing 280
Fig. A.10.10 Ind2, motivation: diversification of sources of financing 280
Fig. A.10.11 Ind1, motivation: investment/diversification 281
Fig. A.10.12 Ind2, motivation: investment/diversification 281
Fig. 11.1 Top 15 groups (open-end funds only) in billions of euros 293
Fig. 11.2 Flows of financial resources into different investment
instruments in billions of euros 294
 List of Tables

Table 1.1 Number of observations in the sample 8

Table 1.2 Use of non-bank financing instruments across
countries (weighted averages) 9
Table 1.3 Use of non-bank financing instruments by firm
size (weighted averages) 10
Table 1.4 Simultaneous use of non-bank financing instruments
by firm size (weighted averages) 11
Table 1.5 Simultaneous use of non-bank financing instruments
by firm age (weighted averages) 11
Table 1.6 Use of non-bank financing instruments by firm
age (weighted averages) 11
Table 1.7 Use of non-bank financing instruments by sector
(weighted averages) 11
Table 1.8 Use of non-bank financing instruments by credit
constrained firms (weighted averages) 13
Table 1.9 Correlation between different sources of finance
and the indicator of credit constraints 15
Table 1.10 Alternative sources of firm financing—estimated results 16
Table 1.11 Alternative sources of firm financing—estimated
results for rejected and discouraged firms (marginal
effects) 21
Table 1.12 Variables description in the probit model 23

xxvii
xxviii List of Tables

Table 2.1 Basic statistics 39

Table 2.2 Regressions—applied for a loan 42
Table 2.3 Regressions—obtained a loan 45
Table 2.4 Applied for a loan (split dataset) 48
Table 2.5 Obtained a loan (split dataset) 51
Table 3.1 Observations by wave 63
Table 3.2 Observations by country 63
Table 3.3 Summary statistics 73
Table 3.4 Impact of legal-institutional and social factors on
interest rates 75
Table A.3.1 Variable descriptions and sources 77
Table 4.1 Empirical literature: survey 88
Table 4.2 Number of interviewed firms 91
Table 4.3 General characteristics of the firms in the sample
(percentage frequencies) 93
Table 4.4 General characteristics of firms in the sample
by country (percentage frequencies) 94
Table 4.5 Application for external funds and results from
application (percentage frequencies) 99
Table 4.6 Terms and conditions of the bank financing (1)
(percentage frequencies) 100
Table 4.7 Application for bank loans and results from
application by country (percentage frequencies) 102
Table 4.8 Econometric analysis: application for bank loans
and trade credit (1) (multinomial logistic estimates) 105
Table 4.9 Econometric analysis: results from application
for bank loans and trade credit (1) (multinomial
logistic estimates) 108
Table 4.10 Country analysis. Econometric analysis: application
for bank loans (1) (multinomial logistic estimates) 111
Table 4.11 Country analysis. Econometric analysis: results
from application for bank loans (1) (multinomial
logistic estimates) 112
Table 5.1 Breakdown of bank-month data by country 127
Table 5.2 Definition of bank-level explanatory variables 136
Table 6.1 List of observed banks 154
Table 6.2 Augmented Dickey–Fuller unit root test 158
Table 6.3 Descriptive statistics 160
 List of Tables xxix

Table 6.4 Impact of sovereign CDSs on bank CDS spreads 161

Table 7.1 Sample composition: breakdown by number of firms,
total assets and number of employees 179
Table 7.2 Sample composition: breakdown of number of firms
by industry and country 180
Table 7.3 Companies that changed size: breakdown by country 182
Table 7.4 Variables definition 184
Table 7.5 Variables definition 184
Table 7.6 Total sample financial statements, margins
(in million euros) and ratios (%) 187
Table 7.7 Sample composition: breakdown by financial
structure characteristics 190
Table 7.8 Sample composition: breakdown by financial
structure characteristics and country 190
Table 7.9 Financial statements, margins (in million euros)
and ratios (%): breakdown in subsamples based
on financial structure characteristics 192
Table 7.10 Sample companies with positive growth rates of net
income and turnover: breakdown by financial
structure characteristics 194
Table 8.1 Sample feature (1997–2013)—distribution by size
(sales amount in million euros) 211
Table 8.2 Risk-size distribution of Italian firms (1997–2013) 212
Table 8.3 Example of cohort building 214
Table 9.1 Cluster analysis the center regions
are absorbed in north or south clusters 233
Table A.9.1 HHI of loans 247
Table B.9.1 OLS estimates for Spec. A: non-financial companies 250
Table B.9.2 OLS estimates for Spec. A: households 251
Table B.9.3 OLS estimates for Spec. A: family businesses 251
Table B.9.4 OLS estimates for Spec. B: non-financial companies 252
Table B.9.5 OLS estimates for Spec. B: households 253
Table B.9.6 OLS estimates for Spec. B: family businesses 254
Table 10.1 Issuers’ features 261
Table 10.2 Distribution of issuers by gross revenues 261
Table 10.3 Distribution of issuers by gross revenues, listed,
unlisted and Elite program participants 262
Table 10.4 Distribution of issuers by sector of economic
activity (NACE codes) 262
xxx List of Tables

Table 10.5 Distribution of issuers, SMEs and large company,

by Sector of economic activity 263
Table 10.6 Distribution of issuers, listed and unlisted, by sector
of economic activity 264
Table 10.7 Distribution of issuers by outstanding amount
and gross revenues 264
Table 10.8 Distribution of issuers by outstanding amount
and sector of economic activity 265
Table 10.9 Issuance motivations 265
Table 10.10 Distribution of issuers by region 266
Table 10.11 Distribution of emissions by gross revenue size 266
Table 10.12 Distribution of emissions by sector of economic
activity (NACE code) 267
Table 10.13 Issuers’ rating 267
Table 10.14 Distribution of issuers by groups and issuance
motivations (financial companies are excluded) 268
Table 10.15 Sample distribution by groups and issuance
motivations 269
Table A.10.1 Descriptive statistics by groups 282
Table A.10.2 Descriptive statistics by issuance motivations 283
Table A.10.3 Descriptive statistics: issuance motivation
investment by groups 284
Table 11.1 List of Italian investment firms included in
our database 301
Table 11.2 Summary statistics for our database 303
Table 11.3 Companies observable in the first ten positions of
equity funds studied 306
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
certitude que mon mari n’était pas un assassin ? Car c’était pour
cela… seulement pour cela… Je ne savais plus maintenant ce
qu’avaient pu être mes craintes… — mes espérances !… — Je ne
savais plus si ma vie se nourrissait depuis quelques semaines
d’imaginations absurdes ou des plus profondes et poignantes
réalités sentimentales. Le fait seul m’apparaissait dans son
évidence, brutal et nu comme la lumière de cette lampe ; et ma
douleur devant lui ne pouvait être que grotesque ou que
monstrueuse. Je le compris… il ne me fut plus possible de
comprendre autre chose. Et, voulant me défendre de moi-même et
de tout ce que j’éprouvais d’effrayant, je criai presque :
— Triste ! moi !… après ce que tu viens de me dire !… Triste !…
ah ! par exemple !…
Et voici que, soudain, je me mis à rire. C’était un rire terrible et
violent qui ne pouvait plus s’apaiser. Je riais sur Fabien et sur son
visage satisfait. Je riais plus encore sur moi-même et sur mes
grandes émotions. Et ce rire, qui secouait convulsivement mes
épaules, faisait monter à mes yeux des larmes brûlantes tandis que
le spasme du sanglot serrait dans ma gorge son nœud dur et
douloureux.
— A la bonne heure, s’exclama Fabien tout épanoui. Vois-tu…
J’ai été comme toi d’abord… Le contentement semblait m’abrutir. Je
n’ai bien compris qu’au bout d’un instant. Mais alors, dame, j’ai été
pris d’une espèce de folie. Comme toi, vois-tu… tout à fait comme
toi.

*
* *

… Je ne sais plus le nom de ce restaurant vers lequel nous

allions par les petites rues obscures, ni tout ce que Fabien me
racontait de sa vieille renommée et des personnages importants de
la ville qui ont coutume d’y fréquenter. Mais je me rappelle bien
l’entrée dans la salle basse, pleine et chaude, le gros tapage des
voix et des vaisselles, l’odeur des nourritures dans laquelle se mêlait
à l’acidité des plats vinaigrés, le relent de l’huile bouillante et le
fumet lourd des gibiers. Je me rappelle cette vapeur qui flottait, faite
de l’exhalaison des plats et des haleines et de la fumée du tabac,
cette vapeur embuant aux murs les grandes glaces encadrées de
guirlandes peintes, de fruits, de jeunes femmes coiffées du ruban
provençal, et qui noyait également dans son opacité les figures
décoratives, aux couleurs crues, et les visages vivants, enluminés
avec violence. Et je me rappelle le soin que prit Fabien de choisir,
pour nous y installer, une table qui fût bien en vue, au beau milieu de
la salle.
Il appela le garçon ; il lui donna ses ordres à voix très haute,
satisfait de voir que la plupart des dîneurs se retournaient vers lui ; et
le regard qu’il promena sur tous, quand il fut assis, était un regard
triomphal. En ce moment il était plus heureux encore qu’il n’avait pu
l’être en recevant la lettre de Fardier, et plus heureux que tout à
l’heure, en me faisant son récit haletant de fièvre et de joie.
Véritablement son apparence était celle de la résurrection. Il
semblait de minute en minute s’épanouir davantage. Il prenait sa
revanche de ces quelques semaines pendant lesquelles il avait
vécu, terré, caché, se mourant de honte et de peur, à imaginer
autour de lui le sourire et la raillerie des hommes ; il la prenait avec
éclat, sans mesure et presque insolemment.
Je m’étais assise de façon à tourner le dos à la salle. Parmi tant
de visages qui nous entouraient je ne voyais devant moi que le
visage de Fabien ; parmi tant de gestes qui s’accomplissaient, je ne
voyais que ses gestes. Chacun exprimait l’orgueil, la satisfaction
absolue, la suffisance mesquine et profonde. La manière qu’il avait
de trancher son pain, d’attirer à lui la salière, de reposer fortement
son verre sur la table, révélait, me semblait-il, mieux qu’aucune
parole, de quelle étoffe grossière était faite sa joie… Et je pensais
que, dans la même étoffe, avait été taillé et façonné son désespoir,
ce désespoir sur lequel je m’étais penchée et dont j’avais nourri ma
vie la plus frémissante et la meilleure pendant tant d’heures qui me
paraissaient belles.
 Je commençais maintenant à me rappeler ces heures-là. Je ne
faisais que commencer… Dans cette salle bruyante et chaude, dont
l’air s’épaississait d’odeurs désagréables, je les retrouvais l’une
après l’autre, ces heures d’angoisse et de tourment, redoutées
d’abord, et qui peu à peu m’étaient devenues si chères… Je n’avais
devant moi que le visage de Fabien, mais quand il avançait ou
tournait la tête, ce qui, dans son agitation, lui arrivait à tout moment,
un autre visage m’apparaissait dans la glace étroite, gravée d’étoiles
mates, qui décorait derrière lui le pilier octogone, un visage pâle,
avec des yeux un peu élargis et fixes. Ces yeux, qui étaient les
miens, étaient aussi les yeux de maman que je croyais revoir. Ils
contenaient ma vie tout entière, ils l’expliquaient toute. Ils étaient à la
fois avides et résignés, exigeants et craintifs. Et je n’avais jamais su
voir comme aujourd’hui qu’à leur humilité soumise pouvait se mêler
un désarroi infini et qu’ils se troublaient à la fois des plus étroits
scrupules et de passionnées inquiétudes.
La tête de Fabien, se tournant et s’agitant sans repos, me cachait
ces yeux un instant, et puis de nouveau, je les voyais m’apparaître
confusément dans l’eau de la glace obscurcie de vapeurs et de
fumées. Et ce qui vivait en eux maintenant, ce n’étaient plus que ces
dernières semaines, ce n’étaient que ces dernières heures de mon
existence… Un temps bien court, plus vaste cependant que tout le
reste des jours où j’avais respiré sur la terre. Je me souvenais… je
continuais de me souvenir… Il y avait eu cette nuit à Lagarde…
l’horreur de cette nuit ! Il y avait eu, mystérieuses, menant mes
gestes, dictant mes paroles et cependant comme inconnues à moi-
même, ma résolution soudaine de ne pas abandonner Fabien, ma
volonté de le suivre. Il y avait eu… Mais tant de choses
aboutissaient à une seule… — et c’est une pensée unique à présent
qui me torturait, c’est parmi tous ces souvenirs le souvenir d’une
seule minute — il y avait eu, devant cette douleur que je voyais si
grande, si absolue, capable d’enrichir de ses tourments l’âme la plus
misérable, il y avait eu mon amour, l’élan merveilleux de mon amour.
— Et maintenant il y avait cela seulement ; la révélation que cette
âme n’avait pas changé, la certitude qu’elle ne changerait pas. Il y
avait cela… rien que cela.
« Ah ! peut-être j’aurais préféré qu’il tuât réellement… qu’il tuât…
et qu’il ne fût pas ce qu’il est… »
A ce moment Fabien se redressa, et je ne vis plus mes yeux
dans la glace ; je n’eus plus devant moi que son regard à lui, un peu
vague et tout chavirant d’excitation et de plaisir.
— Garçon ! appela-t-il… Et jetant son ordre avant que l’autre fût
tout près de lui… Du châteauneuf des papes… Une bonne bouteille.
Il se pencha vers moi, ricanant et confidentiel :
— Ça va me coûter cher, ce petit dîner… Mais puisque ce sont
eux qui paient.
— Qui cela ? demandai-je.
— Mais, dit-il, les clients du père Fardier. D’où sors-tu donc ?…
Depuis une demi-heure, nous ne parlons pas d’autre chose.
Il disait : « nous ne parlons », sans remarquer qu’avant cette
brève question je n’avais encore prononcé aucune parole. Ma
distraction, qu’il crut soudaine, l’égaya. Il se servit pour la deuxième
fois des cailles placées devant nous, qui dressaient et
recroquevillaient sur des croûtons de pain gras leurs petites pattes
noires et métalliques, et il reprit cet entretien que je n’entendais pas.
Ne cessant de parler et de manger avec une égale abondance, il ne
cessait non plus de s’avancer de droite et de gauche, de se dresser,
de se pencher, d’observer qui le regardait. Et revoyant à tous
moments derrière lui, dans la glace, ces yeux qui me regardaient, je
continuais, tout éperdue, de leur répondre et de les interroger.
« N’eût-il pas mieux valu qu’il tuât réellement… qu’il tuât ?…
L’être est-il plus avili par l’acte passionné d’une seule minute, que
peuvent essayer de racheter tous les repentirs, ou par la continuité
paisible de la médiocrité et de la platitude ?… »
Mais de cette même façon réelle dont je voyais Fabien couper sa
viande et se verser du vin rouge, je voyais maintenant que le crime
même, s’il eût été commis, n’eût éveillé dans cette âme qu’un ennui,
qu’un repentir et que des craintes à sa taille. Et désespérément
alors, pour ne plus rien voir de lui ni de moi-même, me détournant
moins de ces deux visages dressés devant moi que de l’âme secrète
et trop douloureuse à connaître dont s’animait chacun d’eux, je
regardais la salle, moi aussi, j’attachais mon attention, toute mon
attention, au chapeau extravagant d’une jeune femme, aux
remarques faites par nos voisins, deux couples brésiliens, dans le
plus divertissant langage, aux courses des garçons glissant
prestement au milieu des tables serrées, à la caissière ronde et
brune qui paraissait tant s’ennuyer derrière son haut bureau fleuri de
roses. Je m’appliquais à écouter jusqu’au petit bruit de la monnaie
tombant dans les plateaux de métal, et j’entendais venir de la salle
voisine, où trois billards étalaient sous les lampes leurs tapis d’un
vert éclatant, le choc léger des boules d’ivoire, les voix des joueurs
annonçant les points, et quelquefois aussi s’élevant avec violence
pour discuter d’un « coulé » douteux ou pour applaudir un coup
difficile.
Dans un de ces moments où tous les secours m’étaient bons
pour échapper à moi-même, regardant une fois de plus, pour
regarder le plus loin qu’il me fût possible, dans cette salle où
s’agitaient les joueurs de billard, je vis un homme qui venait sur le
seuil, le chapeau sur la tête, boutonnant son pardessus, prêt à sortir,
un vieil homme robuste et grand dont l’aimable visage était tout
rayonnant sous d’épais cheveux blancs ; et je le reconnus
brusquement… Alors, me penchant vers Fabien, je me mis tout à
coup à répondre à chacune de ses phrases, à lui demander de petits
détails, à l’entretenir avec une animation fébrile de toutes ces
questions qui l’intéressaient. Il fallait que sa pensée en ce moment
s’attachât à moi seule, que son regard se fixât sur moi seule, car je
ne voulais pas qu’il vît cet homme à son tour et qu’il le reconnût, je
ne le voulais pas… Mais il ne remarqua pas plus mon attention qu’il
ne s’était inquiété de mon indifférence. Et malgré mes pressantes
paroles, mon visage tendu vers lui, mes yeux qui cherchaient les
siens, se tournant de tous les côtés comme il continuait de le faire, il
fallut bien enfin qu’il se tournât de ce côté.
 Aussitôt une rougeur plus violente monta à son visage déjà
empourpré. Il s’exclama ; il frappa joyeusement sur la table, et d’une
voix forte, à travers tout ce monde, il cria :
— Fabréjol !
Je vis le petit mouvement surpris de M. Fabréjol, je vis son
regard se promener de table en table, cherchant avec étonnement
qui pouvait l’interpeller ainsi, et je vis son sourire qui n’était peut-être
pas seulement de cordialité, tandis qu’ayant aperçu Fabien qui
s’était levé et lui faisait de grands gestes, il prenait le parti de venir
nous rejoindre. Aussitôt mon mari donna l’ordre que l’on apportât
des liqueurs, bouscula nos voisins afin de placer une chaise de plus
entre leur table et la nôtre, rappela le garçon pour demander des
cigarettes, et attira sur nous de telle sorte l’attention générale que M.
Fabréjol me parut un peu gêné.
— Mais je vous en prie, ne cessait-il de répéter, ne vous donnez
pas tant de mal… Ne dérangez pas ainsi tout le monde…
— Laissez donc, disait Fabien… laissez !… Ah ! mon ami, mon
cher ami, je suis si heureux de vous revoir… Quelle chance que
cette rencontre ! Justement, figurez-vous, je quitte Avignon demain.
M. Fabréjol m’avait saluée avec cette cordialité amicale, cette
bonté affectueuse et presque paternelle qu’il m’avait témoignées
déjà en me recevant chez lui. Et il allait me parler. Fabien ne lui en
laissa pas le temps.
— Hé ! oui, reprit-il, demain. Je ne pensais pas partir aussi
brusquement, mais que voulez-vous ! Les malades me réclament…
Les confrères aussi. C’est à croire vraiment qu’à Lagarde on ne peut
plus vivre — ni mourir, ajouta-t-il plaisamment — sans que je sois là.
Alors je repars, je sacrifie ma santé… mon repos… Il le faut bien.
— Votre santé, me semble-t-il, est meilleure maintenant,
remarqua M. Fabréjol.
— Meilleure, déclara Fabien, oh ! certes, et même aujourd’hui
tout à fait bonne. Ce n’est pas comme le jour où je vous ai rencontré,
Fabréjol, — avouez, mon ami, que j’avais une tête à faire peur — ni
comme cet autre jour où j’ai eu le grand regret de ne pouvoir
accompagner ma femme à votre déjeuner. Ah ! j’ai été vraiment très
mal… Mais c’est fini, bien fini… De la chartreuse, Fabréjol, ou de la
fine ?…
Jamais il n’avait parlé aussi familièrement à M. Fabréjol. Même
quand nous étions seuls et qu’il m’entretenait de lui, il le faisait avec
plus de déférence. Mais il se sentait aujourd’hui tout magnifique, il
était tout hors de lui-même, et je crois bien qu’il n’eût pas imaginé
sur la terre entière quelqu’un à qui il ne pût s’égaler.
— L’une et l’autre, ajouta-t-il en débouchant les flacons de
liqueurs. Et je vous ferai raison.
— Ni l’une ni l’autre, dit M. Fabréjol couvrant son verre de sa
main. Je vous remercie. D’ailleurs je vais être obligé de vous quitter.
Il est bien tard. J’ai six kilomètres à faire pour rentrer chez moi. Un
vieux cheval… un vieux cocher. Ma sœur qui s’inquiète et veille en
m’attendant. Mais j’ai voulu ce soir prendre congé de quelques amis.
— Allons donc !… s’exclama Fabien, vous repartez déjà ! Moi qui
comptais vous demander de venir nous voir un de ces jours à
Lagarde.
Il prononça ces derniers mots avec désinvolture. D’un trait il vida
son verre qu’il avait rempli de chartreuse. Et il éprouva le besoin
d’ajouter, important et confidentiel :
— Ma situation là-bas, vous savez, est en train de devenir
considérable !
Il répéta, tapotant la table de sa main ouverte, comme pour bien
pénétrer de ce mot le marbre lui-même :
— Considérable.
— Je n’en doute pas, dit M. Fabréjol avec politesse. J’ai toujours
pensé qu’il en serait ainsi. Et je vous félicite bien sincèrement.
Autant qu’il m’était en ce moment possible de remarquer quelque
chose, je remarquai que le ton de Fabien le surprenait ce soir, et
peut-être même l’agaçait un peu. Ce fut vers moi qu’il se tourna pour
ajouter :
 — J’ai conservé de Lagarde le meilleur souvenir… Et j’aurais eu
grand plaisir, madame, à vous y rendre de nouveau visite.
Malheureusement, je vous le répète, je pars, ou plutôt nous partons,
mon fils et moi.
J’acquiesçai de la tête. Je crois même que je souris. J’avais
tremblé en apercevant M. Fabréjol. J’avais souhaité qu’il ne nous vît
pas ce soir, qu’il ne vînt pas auprès de nous. Mais je ne savais plus
d’où m’était venue cette frayeur ; je ne me représentais pas bien en
ce moment ce fils qui devait partir avec lui ; je ne souffrais pas en
l’écoutant.
— Philippe, continua M. Fabréjol, était un peu hésitant. Il avait, je
crois, l’intention de prolonger son séjour en France d’un ou deux
mois. Et sa tante, ma pauvre vieille sœur, en eût été bien heureuse.
Mais vous savez comme sont les jeunes gens. Il a maintenant
changé d’avis. Et tout à l’heure même, il vient de me déclarer que sa
résolution était enfin prise et qu’il préférait m’accompagner.
— Quand partez-vous ? demanda Fabien.
— Le douze, dit Fabréjol.
— Le douze, répéta mon mari d’une façon machinale.
Ce fut ce petit mot qui réveilla tout. A cause de cette date qu’il
avait prononcée au musée Calvet et que j’avais répétée comme
Fabien venait de le faire, je revis le musée et Philippe devant moi.
J’entendis sa demande et mon refus. J’entendis ma voix sourde et
sincère qui prononçait : « J’ai l’amour… » Et voici que de nouveau,
comme tout à l’heure, rue des Trois-Faucons, dans la chambre
vilainement éclairée par la lumière nue de la lampe, j’éclatai de rire.
Et c’était comme tout à l’heure, un rire terrible, violent, qui ne cessait
plus de secouer mes épaules et faisait monter à mes yeux des
larmes brûlantes, tandis que le spasme du sanglot serrait dans ma
gorge son nœud dur et douloureux.
M. Fabréjol me considérait, étonné ; mais Fabien expliqua avec
une grande indulgence :
— Elle est très gaie… Que voulez-vous ! — (Et j’avais
l’impression précise que chacune de ses paroles serait répétée à
Philippe, et chacune de ses paroles me déchirait comme une lame
grinçante et froide.) — C’est que la journée d’aujourd’hui a été pour
elle une bonne journée.

*
* *

… Sur le toit de tuiles rousses que je vois de ma fenêtre, une

fumée voudrait monter, que rabat le grand vent. Elle bouillonne au
sortir de la cheminée comme un jet d’eau sans force ; elle se couche
et s’échevèle, et, comme le soir va venir, elle est blanche sur le ciel
gris.
Nous sommes en hiver, maintenant. Nous approchons de la
Noël. C’est le temps, à Lagarde, où l’on se rend des visites. J’ai été
très occupée à en faire, à en recevoir aussi. Et j’ai dû m’interrompre
souvent d’écrire, si souvent que quelquefois je ne savais vraiment
plus bien pourquoi j’avais entrepris de conter toutes ces choses…
A quoi bon l’avoir fait ? C’est fini d’ailleurs, c’est fini. Je n’ai plus
rien à dire. Je fréquente beaucoup de monde maintenant. Cela est
naturel. Je donne à goûter et quelquefois à dîner. La situation de
Fabien m’impose ces obligations, qui ne sont pas désagréables. Ce
dernier soir en Avignon, dont j’ai parlé pour finir, il avait bien raison
d’être si content. Tout s’est parfaitement arrangé. Le vieux Fardier a
commencé déjà de lui passer la plus grande partie de sa clientèle.
Nous le voyons assez souvent. Il dîne ici demain avec Romain de
Buires, qui est maintenant tout à fait de nos amis.
Bien entendu, on ne parlera de rien. Je veux dire : on ne parlera
pas de toute cette histoire. On n’en parle jamais. Elle est vieille
d’ailleurs : un an déjà. Personne n’y pense plus. Moi-même, bien
souvent, je crois l’avoir oubliée.
Quelquefois cependant… oui, quelquefois… je me rappelle. Cela
me vient tout à coup, d’une manière brusque que rien ne prépare et
qui me surprend. Cela me vient quand je suis seule dans ma
chambre ou bien assise près de Guicharde à coudre devant le feu,
ou encore, ce qui est plus singulier, quand je fais quelque visite
d’importance, au beau milieu d’une conversation, alors que je
m’applique à me tenir avec élégance et que je suis toute contente de
mon chapeau avec une plume brune qui vient de Paris, ou de mes
gants montant un peu haut et brodés de baguettes noires, à la
dernière mode. Je me rappelle…
Il semble que mon cœur tout à coup se réveille et supplie, qu’il
grandit et qu’il souffre. Ma gorge se serre. Je ne sais plus que dire.
Mes mains deviennent un peu froides. Et si j’ai une glace devant
moi, j’y vois aussitôt se lever ces yeux qui me regardèrent tout un
soir, du fond de la glace trouble, gravée d’étoiles mates, ces yeux
résignés et tout remplis cependant d’inquiètes exigences…
Mais ces moments tourmentés sont assez rares maintenant.
Peut-être vont-ils encore le devenir davantage. La vie passe. Elle
ordonne. J’ai toujours été pliée à l’obéissance et je ne fais que
continuer. J’accepte ce qu’elle entend faire de mon être soumis. Je
souris à la forme du visage qu’elle tourne vers moi. Oui, je souris…
Je suis heureuse. — Pourquoi pas ? La considération dont nous
entoure tout le pays est chaque jour plus grande. Mon mari chaque
jour gagne plus d’argent et la tendresse qu’il me témoigne est
raisonnable et fidèle. C’est Guicharde qui a raison. Il ne faut
considérer que l’apparence des choses et quand elle est excellente,
il est inutile et peut-être ridicule de rien chercher au delà.
C’est fini. Je vais faire un grand feu avec tous ces feuillets. Le
soir vient. Des femmes dans la rue vont à la fontaine. J’entends le
grincement de la pompe, le bruit sonore d’une anse retombant
contre un seau vide. Et j’entends au-dessous de moi tous les bruits
de ma maison : Guicharde met la table avec vivacité, Adélaïde fend
du bois dans la souillarde. Tout à l’heure, Fabien va rentrer dans sa
voiture grise et basse, pareille à quelque gros cloporte roulé dans la
poussière.
La vie est régulière, abondante et tranquille. Elle est bonne pour
moi en somme. Elle est très bonne. Je suis heureuse. Je puis l’être.
Je le serais tout à fait s’il n’y avait pas encore ces moments, tous
ces moments où il me semble que je m’éveille, et où je pense que
ces minutes paisibles et satisfaites sont peut-être les pires de
toutes…
 PARIS
IMPRIMERIE GAMBART & Cie
52, avenue du Maine, 52
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