The lemon problem refers to issues that arise regarding the value of an investment or product due to asymmetric information possessed by the buyer and the seller. The theory of the lemons problem was put forward in a 1970 research paper in The Quarterly Journal of Economics, titled, "The Market for 'Lemons': Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," written by George A. Akerlof, an economist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley.