Using survey data collected over 1999-2000, Disyatat and Nakornthab (2003) investigated whether there is a significant difference in financing opportunities between firms in the traded and the non-traded sectors in Thailand. Overall, the results indicate that firms in the traded sector tend to be larger and less dependent on bank credit, as they are more likely to have access to other forms of external finance-trade credit, and equity and bond markets. In contrast, firms in the non-traded sector are typically smaller and heavily dependent on bank credit, which is primarily determined by collateral values, not investment opportunities. Since banks are heavily exposed to the non-traded sector, overall credit declines while GDP is propped up by the traded sector. The result is a protracted slowdown in bank credit that outlives a brief recession.