Sentence:  Whether or not it <WSD>is</WSD> in the industry 's interest to allow the basic wage rate to rise obviously depends upon the extent to which the public limit price rises in response to a basic wage increase , and the relation of this response to the increase in costs accompanying the wage increase . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)