Star formation efficiency, SFE_clumps, as a function of the self-gravity of the clumps (parameter b_clumps) across the merger sequence. From left to right and top to bottom, the merger stages are isolated galaxies (blue), galaxy pairs (red), early-stage mergers (orange), mid-stage mergers (magenta), and late-stage mergers (black). The Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients (ρ_s) and the power-law indices (N) of the best-fit relations are indicated. The bottom right panel shows the mean values of log₁₀SFE_clumps and log₁₀b_clumps for each merger stage. The error bars indicate the mean absolute deviation. The slope of the correlation between SFE_clumps and b_clumps transitions from relatively flat to a broken power law at early merger stages, to a positive slope in mid- and late-stage mergers, showing that, at later interaction stages, the most bounded gas clumps convert their gas into stars more efficiently.