Question: What is propagated by the richer states as a means to avoid or reduce fiscal transfers?
Sentence: Committees and expert commissions advocated a reduction of the number of states; academics (Rutz, Miegel, Ottnad etc.) and politicians (Döring, Apel, and others) made proposals –  some of them far-reaching –  for redrawing boundaries but hardly anything came of these public discussions.
Answer in sentence: no