Nifty idea and a frequent SF trope, but the reality is interstellar shipping would cost too much. Stuff has mass, and every microgram of mass requires a set amount of energy to be moved in space, and that costs money— lots of it. So you don't ship things as much as you can avoid doing so.
A more likely structure would be to ship one significant thing— call it an advanced 3D-printing device— which is used to produce durable goods in situ— including additional printers. All that needs to be sent subsequently are the digital files for whatever one wants to print. Presumably the colonies would all have abundant raw materials (metals, minerals). The only things which would be shipped are unique "items" like people and maybe art— or possibly spice and maple syrup*.
So I think there wouldn't wind up being any subordinate colonies tied to a specific company or other interstellar government, nor any lack of goods or food, as both would be produced on the planet itself. Even colony defense would be best left to the colony itself— a space battleship can be 3d-printed too. Information alone would be the main form of interstellar commerce, with unique native fauna or flora being a potential shipped good at exotic prices (like maple syrup).
Now this doesn't discount the possibility of local control of the 3D-printers. But in such circumstances the farmers would wind up being the true power brokers— you can't 3-D print food (well, none that anyone wants to eat). The Printer controllers may hold the key to durable goods, but the Farmers have the food. Food looks pretty good (and durable goods pretty cheap) when you haven't had anything to eat for a couple of days…
Now, there's definitely a scenario in there. You've got the Miners (who gather the raw materials, whatever they are), the Builders (who print desired durable goods), and the Farmers (who keep everybody fed). Some other factions might be present (Religious, Entertainers, Engineers— who build stuff with local goods which do not require printers). Theoretically they should all work together in harmony, blah-blah-blah, but people being people… well, you can take it from there. And of course there's always some source group— whether you call it a corporation, company, commune, consortium, country or king isn't all that relevant— it's just always someone who thinks he (or they) have the rights to whatever the colonists produce because he spent a marginal amount of money to back the colonization effort. Leave that mix on the stove and soon you've got a revolution boiling over…
But it's all good for scenario making. Whatever gets the lasers blasting!!!
*Nod to John Ringo.
gets his DNA results, and starts thinking about wargaming.
