The Economic Times

A researcher turned politicians faces into economic data, asking whether their obesity could serve as an unlikely warning sign for something governments rarely reveal: corruption

An economist explored a novel link between politicians' physical appearance and corruption. He used computer vision to estimate body mass index from photographs of ministers. This study examined cabinet members across fifteen former Soviet republics. Later research focused on Ukrainian ministers, showing similar statistical associations over time. The findings suggest a potential proxy for corruption where data is scarce.