Vinyl alcohol polymer, thickener, stabilizer for emulsion polymerization, stabilizer for suspension polymerization, coating agent, coating, sizing agent for fibers, and method for producing sized yarn and textile
Provided by the present invention is a PVA having highly harmonized adequate water solubility, thickening property and coating film strength, and having superior storage stability in terms of the viscosity in an aqueous solution. A vinyl alcohol polymer having a ratio (Mw (A)/Mn (A)) of the weight average molecular weight (Mw (A)) to the number average molecular weight (Mn (A)) of 3 or greater and 8 or less, and being capable of giving a vinyl alcohol polymer having a ratio (Mw/Mn) of a weight average molecular weight (Mw) to a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 2 or greater and less than 3 when treated at 40 °C for 1 hour in a sodium hydroxide solution.