Facing rising labor costs and a shrinking pool of workers, Yakima Valley Orchards has been studying its options. Last summer, the Yakima, Washington-based company hired University of Washington economics student Chad Anders to compare the productivity of workers paid piece rate versus by the hour. In one test at the company’s Grandview orchard, workers were paid hourly for one day to thin Granny Smiths, with the wage rates ranging from $7.36 to $8.48 per hour. The next day, when they were paid piece rate for each tree thinned, their productivity increased by 39 percent. The goal had been for them […]