This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: EDWARDS, T.H. and MALLICK, S.K., 2021. Editorial introduction: Institutions, policies and economic performance. The World Economy, 44(10), pp. 2794-2796, doi:10.1111/twec.13079, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/twec.13079. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.