The principal and agent theory emerged in the 1970s from the combined disciplines of economics and institutional theory. There is some contention as to who originated the theory, with theorists Stephen Ross and Barry Mitnick claiming its authorship.[4] Ross is said to have originally described the dilemma in terms of a person choosing a flavor of ice-cream for someone whose tastes he does not know (Ibid). The most cited reference to the theory, however, comes from Michael C. Jensen and William Meckling.[5] The theory has come to extend well beyond economics or institutional studies to all contexts of information asymmetry, uncertainty and risk.