{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,24]],"date-time":"2026-05-24T05:04:39Z","timestamp":1779599079808,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]],"date-time":"2026-05-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779408000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Postgraduate Research and Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province","award":["KYCX25_4158"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["KYCX25_4158"]}]},{"name":"National Social Science Fund of China","award":["24BGL209"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["24BGL209"]}]},{"name":"Key Research Base of Universities in Jiangsu Province for Philosophy and Social Science \u201cResearch Center for Green Development and Environmental Governance\u201d"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study analyzes a balanced panel of 41 Yangtze River Delta cities from 2006 to 2021 to assess whether and why economic growth has decoupled from industrial pollution. Furthermore, this study proposes a two-dimensional decoupling framework that combines Tapio elasticity with development stages, quantifies driver contributions using an LMDI\u2013Tapio decomposition, and estimates spatial \u03b2-convergence in pollution intensity. Key findings include the following: (1) By 2021, all YRD cities exhibit decoupling, with heterogeneity across pollutants and cities. (2) Technological progress effect is the dominant enabler of decoupling, while economic development poses a significant barrier. (3) Industrial sulfur dioxide, smoke and dust intensity, and the composite industrial pollution index show notable spatial \u03b2-convergence, with smoke and dust intensity converging most rapidly. The results inform technology-focused policies and cross-city coordination in the YRD.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems14060596","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]],"date-time":"2026-05-22T12:14:52Z","timestamp":1779452092000},"page":"596","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Economic Growth and Industrial Pollution Emissions in the Yangtze River Delta Cities: An Integrated Analysis of Decoupling and Convergence"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Jialin","family":"Dong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xuemei","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yufei","family":"Su","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Business School, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210046, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaona","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dongying","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106417","DOI":"10.1016\/j.agwat.2020.106417","article-title":"Dynamic game in agriculture and industry cross-sectoral water pollution governance in developing countries","volume":"243","author":"Xiao","year":"2021","journal-title":"Agric. 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