A polyvinyl alcohol having hydrolyzed silyl group functionalized monomer units. The polyvinyl alcohol satisfies the following formulae (I) and (II) and the pH of an aqueous 4% solution of the polyvinyl alcohol is between 4 and 8:

wherein P is the viscosity-average degree of polymerization of the polyvinyl alcohol, and S is the content of the silyl group functionalized monomer units in the polyvinyl alcohol,

wherein A is the silicon atom content of the polyvinyl alcohol, B is the silicon atom content of the polyvinyl alcohol that has been washed with sodium hydroxide-containing methanol and then washed through Soxhlet extraction with methanol. The polyvinyl alcohol may be readily dissolved in water in the absence of sodium hydroxide or an acid; the aqueous solution has good viscosity stability; the binding force with inorganic substances is high; and a film formed of its mixture with an inorganic substance is excellent in resistance to water. The polyvinyl alcohol is favorable for coating agents for inkjet recording materials and thermal recording materials.