But it does not take away from the fact that at the start of this village's development all the labour was internal to the village. The use of non-village workers only came with success. But yes, you're basically correct in saying that the village became a corporation.
And whether, a business enterprise is owned by one individual, or by a company or by the government is not particularly important. What's important is that has the following:
1. Access to adequate capital.
2. Skilled management.
3. Skilled technicians.
4. Good accounting practise.
I disagree. The most important factor is not on your list: The members of the town/corporation can make decisions on what to produce because they have prices – prices that come from everywhere else around them. They have prices for their inputs and a good idea of what they can get for their outputs at home and abroad. They are swimming in a sea of market information. This town is just like a large company, giving housing away for their investors as a perk.
It does work. There is no dispute there. But it works, not because it shares the profits. Rather, it works because this one corporation is functioning as a supplier of goods within a market, and from that market information the town, just like a board of directors, can make decisions on resource usage to gain profits, which is the signal that they are moving resources into higher level goods.
The point: This little town doesn’t bolster the socialist’s argument. The socialist notes: “there is no private property”. Answer: sure there is. The corporation/town is basically like a private actor.
It may be noted in this discussion that government ownership was common in the past.
Why is that important to note?
Right across Asia there is evidence that governments initiated production facilities. For the reason already stated, that there was insufficient private capital available for the project. Not surprising when you consider that most of the population (say 80% to 90%) was engaged in agriculture. Only the state had the resources to inject capital into some enterprise.
Not having the needed capital to undertake a venture implies something about undertaking that venture. What is so important about venture XYZ that you have to steal capital from everyone (taxes), pool it, and start the venture? When the government bureaucrats make that decision, how do they really know that more agriculture wouldn’t be the best thing right now? Why not steal money from people and create carrot juicers instead?
MMM