Would developing country commitments affect US households' support for a modified Kyoto Protocol?

Would US households be willing to pay more to support a modified Kyoto Protocol (MKP) if developing countries had binding future limits on greenhouse gas production? We explore this question using data from a unique set of national Internet samples and web-based surveys. Using an advisory referendum format, the contingent valuation method is applied to estimate annual household willingness-to-pay (WTP) for US Senate ratification of the Kyoto Protocol for a split-sample treatment: the basic Kyoto Protocol (BKP) (control group) versus a MKP that includes limits on future greenhouse gas production for major developing countries (treatment group). The results indicate that the treatment significantly increases the probability of a Yes vote on the advisory referendum; econometric modeling results provide evidence that the MKP significantly increases US households' median WTP to Support the treaty. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.