to me, there's a quality of life aspect that works across the aggregate. long term bugs are indicator of generally poor code health. as the number of long term bugs grows, it implies a code-base which has become complex or hard to work with, is a system that lacks ease & elegance of understanding.

a system where bugs are caught earlier is one that is generally healthy, where complexity is lower, where it's easier to test, find, and more importantly, to design & build "within the lines" of the system.

this jives with the tentative assertion below, certain bugs take more time to fix, and said bugs are issues in design. but not just in isolation, that the total system design & impediment of other long-standing bugs / complications begets a more difficult environment where further bugs are likely and are more likely to be difficult.