no.   table_id   value
 1.        a11     123
 2.        a12     456
 3.        a14     789

no.   polygon_id
 1.          a11
 2.          a12
 3.          a13
 4.          a14
 5.          a15

no.    id   value
 1.   a11     123
 2.   a12     456
 3.   a13       0
 4.   a14     789
 5.   a15       0

#trying to merge
joined <- merge(table,polygons, by.x="table_id", by.y="polygons_id",all=T)
## overwrite the file with this new copy
library(foreign)
write.dbf(joined, "Polygons_R.dbf")

Ward_polygons <- readShapePoly(fn="Polygons_R")

Error in `row.names<-.data.frame`(`*tmp*`, value = value) :
  invalid 'row.names' length

polygons$polygons_id<-(table)

Error in `[[<-.data.frame`(`*tmp*`, name, value = c(1, 2, 1, 2, 9, 8,  :
  replacement has 1309 rows, data has 2490

library('rgdal')
myShp <- readOGR(dsn, layer)
myShp@data <- merge(x=myShp@data, y=myTable,
    by.x="table_id", by.y="polygons_id", all.x=TRUE)

myShp@data$value[which(is.na(myShp@data$value))] <- 0