This sounds totally backwards.
It is. It's the result of low level managers using issue counts as KPI: now it's a metric that must be gamed.
The explanation is more prosaic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17316150
And, the "whole idea" of logging issues is not to see how long they are open for... it's to, you know, log issues, because they can't be fixed instantaneously. Measuring how long they are open for is just a pointy-haired boss side effect, because those are the kind of idiots that would think that kind of metric means anything.
I don't think such cynicism is warranted. Open issue time is a useful metric, at the very least over time, of how quickly developers are fixing problems and how complex they are becoming.
Certainly not something for a pointy haired boss to optimize exclusively for, but a useful bit of data to be taken into consideration with other measurements of performance.
It's not the only factor, it's highly product dependent, but it is very relevant to most outward facing activity...